Eight Dragons and a Fox
by Kage Ryuu Tenshi
Summary: Naruto was banished after failing to retrieve Sasuke. After a mysterious woman makes a deal with Tsunade, the Kitsune becomes one of her eight students and under her tutelage, Naruto learns the Forgotten Arts and learns to live with the Kyuubi. KakaNaru.
1. I: Banishment and a Promise

Naruto was banished after failing to retrieve Sasuke. After a mysterious woman makes a deal with Tsunade, the Kitsune becomes her one of her eight students and under her tutelage, Naruto learns the Forbidden Arts and merges with the Kyuubi. KakaNaru. Yaoi

* * *

Chapter I: Banishment and a Promise

_**- Betrayal is a stab in the heart, a kick in the ass, but most importantly, a lesson in disguise. **_

§

"NO! I WILL NOT ALLOW IT!" The table groaned in protest as the Godaime slammed her palms into the furniture as she stood up to protest; the Council merely regarded her coolly.

"The decision is final, Godaime." Cold black eyes resolutely stared into Tsunade's own blue ones.

"HE SAVED OUR LIVES AND THIS IS HOW WE REPAY HIM? KICKING HIM OUT OF THE ONLY HOME HE HAS EVER KNOWN?" Tsunade roared, but the Council members were unmoved.

"Naruto is going to be banished from Konoha." The Council members left the room regally in a coordinate sequence. The blonde woman merely dropped onto her chair in defeat and she buried her face in her hands. Then a sudden spike in chakra caused the Hokage to sit up abruptly and scan the room.

"Godaime." A cultured, pleasant-sounding feminine voice rang out behind her and Tsunade was shocked to find the owner of the voice. The slender woman was beautiful, that was the only word Tsunade could think of to describe the stranger. Black with blue streaked hair and grey eyes, the young woman had the most strikingly attractive face Tsunade had seen with the elegant aristocratic features that were coupled with perfect alabaster skin. The blonde Hokage could only stare and the stranger chuckled, breaking the Fifth out of her staring trance.

"What do you want?" Tsunade asked as neutrally as possible, and the lithe woman walked to the door with a lazy feline grace and locked it with a complicated privacy seal. The blonde raised an eyebrow; the young woman did not look a day older than twenty and had the capacity to perform an S Grade seal.

"I want to make a deal with you regarding Uzumaki Naruto." At the mention of the young demon vessel, Tsunade's hackles rose.

"What do you want with him?" The question came out as a growl.

"I want to teach him." Grey eyes flashed silver and Tsunade once again wondered who exactly this young woman was. "I want to teach him to control the Kyuubi."

Tsunade stared at the young woman with shock; this girl was obviously not a Leaf Nin, so how the hell did she know about Naruto?

"Control… control the Kyuubi? How is that possible?" Tsunade's eyes widened and the young woman sighed.

"It is possible, with the right method and time. And in exchange for Naruto, I can promise you peace in Konoha for the next three years." The young adult regarded Tsunade seriously and the older woman frowned.

"You promise three years' worth of peace for Konoha in exchange for Naruto? How can do you it?" Tsunade nearly scoffed at the offer. The other woman merely raised a perfect eyebrow and answered with a word.

"Barriers." Tsunade's eyes widened again with comical extent and she stammered.

"Barr...Barriers? Covering the whole of the Leaf Village? Do you know how much chakra that would need?" The Fifth Hokage was almost hysterical with the stress of choosing between two choices for Naruto, one definitely devastating and the other potentially devastating and dangerous for the village.

"Yes."

"Where are you going to get the chakra? Don't tell me you think you're up to the job." The young woman merely made her grey eyes glow silver and then smiled.

"You'd be surprised."

"To have that immense amount of chakra would only be someone non-human… you… you're a Demon… aren't you?" Tsunade grew increasingly worried as moments passed without a denial.

"Well, partially so I guess yes but more specifically the Ryuukotsusei." Sharp, elongated canines glinted in the sunlight and Tsunade gasped; the Dragon Demi-Goddess was even more powerful than the Kyuubi no Kitsune. It was something of a sovereign amongst the Demons, no matter what the race, because of the celestial blood that was in the being's veins and the Dragon was not one of the Bijus. And for her to take notice of a young boy, let alone want to teach him, was monumental.

"So do we have a deal?" Tsunade gulped, not exactly used to conversing with a part-celestial being who was close to several hundred thousand years old, and nodded. As the young-looking being was about to leap out of the window, she parted with a piece of advice.

"Don't let Naruto know about his banishment unless he figures it out and I give you my word that the boy will come back without a scratch on his body. In three hours the barrier will be erected; I'll meet Naruto here." Tsunade nodded, knowing that it was for the best and sighed after the being vanished. With resignation in her eyes, the Godaime requested someone to retrieve Naruto.

§

Dull electric blue eyes stared out of the window of the small apartment as a flashback hit him with ruthless, relentless cruelty.

"_I'm sorry, Sakura. I didn't bring him back, but I promise you that I'll bri –"_

_SMACK! Naruto was cut off with a sharp slap to his cheek, which was reddening rapidly. His heart shattered when he saw the burning hatred this young pretty girl that he fancied had in her green orbs, _

"_You are a good-for-nothing lazy bastard, demon child. You made me lose my Sasuke! Everyone was right, you are a Jinx, and they should have killed you when you were younger!" Naruto felt the shattered pieces of his heart breaking into even smaller fragments. _

"_Sakur –"_

"_No, you Demon, you have no right to say my name. From now on, you are no friend of mine; Uzumaki Naruto is dead to me. You are the Kyuubi no Kitsune, the demon who killed thousands of Konoha's villagers and left poor Sasuke-kun to Orochimaru!" _

Knock. Naruto was shaken out of his reverie and opened the door, which revealed an ANBU with a tiger's mask. The voice that greeted him was emotionless.

"Uzumaki, the Hokage wishes to see you." The tired young blonde nodded and the pair vanished in a puff of smoke. Tsunade was seated at her table, with a solemn expression on her youthful face.

"Leave us," the Godaime ordered and the ANBU member bowed and took his leave. Tsunade surveyed the young vessel in front of her and her heart broke at the lifeless sight of her little charge.

"Naruto…" At the sound of his name, the young Nin looked up, and the Hokage saw tears flowing down his whiskered cheeks.

"Why? Tsunade-baa-san? Why?" The older woman sighed and walked up to Naruto, gathered him into her arms effortlessly and soothed him. After a long while of silence, Tsunade spoke up again.

"Naru-chan, you've got a new teacher to help you to deal with the Kyuubi, you will be going out of the village for the training," she cooed, stroking his golden locks.

The young blonde merely sniffed and stated emotionlessly, "I'm being banished, am I?" Tsunade stopped the stroking in stunned silence and Naruto took the sudden change in body language for an answer. Resignation radiated from the world-weary teen as he nodded.

"I'll accept the training but I am not going to give up on the village, even if the whole of Konoha is against me; I will protect it, even if it means giving up my life." Tsunade felt her eyes water, touched by the devoted determination the demon vessel had for his village.

"I am very proud of you, Naruto." The young kit smiled softly and Tsunade pressed a sisterly kiss onto the smooth forehead. The spike in the chakra alerted Tsunade of Ryuukotsusei's arrival. The part-celestial being's grey eyes softened with sympathy and sadness. Naruto turned around and looked at his future mentor. Ryuukotsusei sighed inwardly with sorrow as she saw the weariness in his eyes that were too old for anyone his age.

"You must be Naruto."

"I entrust my life to you." The Dragoness nodded and beckoned him to come to her side. Obeying her first command, the young blonde leaped out of Tsunade's embrace and walked to his Sensei. Grey eyes glowed an eerie silver as she studied her new student.

"I will be your mentor for the next three years and you will be coming with me to receive your training. Young kit, are you prepared to suffer in the name of improvement? Are you willing to leave behind everything to gain knowledge and power?" Naruto nodded curtly as the silver gaze bore into him, right into his soul.

"Yes, for I have nothing to lose." Tsunade felt her heart wrench with that heartrending statement that was sadly true. The Demi-Goddess deemed the answer satisfactory as she said, "Close your eyes." She then placed a finger onto the young vessel's forehead, silver magic shone around the fingertip and when she removed her finger, a beautiful silvery mark of a dragon could be seen in the middle of his forehead which then sunk into the skin. The dragoness smiled with pride as she declared softly, "You are the first of my brood, the Golden Kitsune."

Naruto gazed at his official mentor with a determined glint in his electric blue eyes which shone with an intense fire, now holding flecks of silver.

"And you can call me Shishou."

"Hai, Shishou." Ryuu smiled warmly and was convinced that her choice in apprentice was perfect; _I will make a Hokage and a survivor out of you just yet…_

"You have an hour to pack all the belongings you need. The place that you will be staying in will provide you with the necessities, so only bring things of sentimental value. I'll return then." Naruto nodded and bowed as the Dragoness disappeared in a vortex of silver and black flames. The young Kitsune then turned to the Hokage and gave her a soft smile which melted the woman's heart. Right then a sisterly instinct reared its head and she made a decision.

"Naruto, would you like to be my brother?" Tsunade wished – no – begged for him to accept, because it would give him an extra reason to remember Konoha. The young vessel blushed and widened his eyes. "Hontouni?"

"Hontou." Tsunade smiled and the Kitsune grinned shyly, reminding her pleasantly of her deceased younger brother. Then Naruto jumped and hugged the buxom woman tightly.

"Arigato, Tsunade-nee-san!"

"Of course, Otouto and I trust you to keep yourself safe?" The blonde nodded and kissed his sister chastely on the cheeks. Tsunade felt herself smile in familial bliss.

"Keep the necklace safe too; after all, it's worth three mountains." Tsunade's blue eyes danced with amusement as Naruto nodded fervently.

"Watch me, Nee-san. I'll come back stronger than before and prove myself good enough to be the Rokudaime." Electric silver-blue eyes gazed hard and determined into the sky blue of Tsunade, who found herself nodding as Naruto whispered firmly. "Watch me, I'll be back." Naruto hugged the woman warmly and disappeared in a puff of reddish gold smoke. Tsunade smiled tenderly and exhaled. _Be safe, Otouto, and may Kami-sama be with you…_

Then her eyes hardened as the usually jovial sky blues turned a metallic steel cerulean hue as she whispered a promise.

"I swear that the Council and everyone who abandoned Naruto will suffer _accordingly._"

§

Yamanaka Ino stared at the floor with disbelief as she recounted what she witnessed a few hours ago. She was just returning to the Yamanaka flower store after a delivery and she happened to unwittingly come across the paths of Naruto and Sakura. And the conversation was not exactly pleasant; in fact, it had shocked her.

"_You are a good-for-nothing lazy bastard, demon child. You made me lose my Sasuke-kun! Everyone was right, you are a Jinx, and they should have killed you when you were younger!" Ino could feel Naruto's heart shatter and the young Yamanaka clenched her fists in anger. How could she do that? _

"_Sakur –" Ino heard the young teenaged demon vessel try again but what she heard next was definitely unforgivable. _

"_No, you Demon, you have no rights to say my name. From now on, you are no friend of mine; Uzumaki Naruto is dead to me. You are the Kyuubi no Kitsune, the demon who killed thousands of Konoha's villagers and left poor Sasuke-kun to Orochimaru!" Ino swore that she could hear a pin drop after the pink-haired girl's harsh declaration. Upon looking at Naruto's utterly devastated facial expression, the Yamanaka heiress felt her heart go out to the painfully lonely young blonde._

Determined to let the fellow kunoichi hear her piece of her mind, Ino got up and searched for her former friend. She found the pink-haired ninja girl talking cheerfully with a bunch of teenaged girls.

"Sakura, I need to talk to you." The green eyed Nin whirled around and was about to protest until she saw the unyielding glint in those serious dark eyes. Gulping, Sakura agreed and followed the mind-possessor into an unused training ground.

There was an uncomfortable silence between the pair until Sakura asked with slight apprehension.

"What is it that you want to talk to me about?"

"You," Ino hissed with barely concealed disgust, "are a disgrace to womankind."

The pink-haired kunoichi stepped back in plain fear and surprise as she saw the despise lying within the burning dark depths of her former best friend.

"What are you talking about?" The Yamanaka narrowed her eyes and spat viciously.

"Naruto." With that singular word, Sakura froze up and then recollected herself to defend herself.

"What? So what if I said that? That useless, good-for-nothing demon failed to bring back Sasuke-kun! I was right! Right about every single word about him and you are not going to make me change my opinions!" Ino walked up to Sakura and asked in a harsh whisper while she held the green gaze with her narrowed dark one.

"Then, tell me. Tell me what did you do to help retrieve Uchiha Sasuke? Hmmh? Please do _tell _me. What _exactly _did you do?" Sakura opened her mouth to answer but nothing came out. Ino smirked cruelly.

"Just as I thought. You did _nothing_. Absolutely _nothing_ and you dared to berate Naruto for trying to bring him back. At least Uzumaki_ tried_ to bring back your _precious _Sasuke_-kun_, while you just sat in Konoha doing _nothing!_" By the time Ino finished the sentence, Sakura was visibly shaken but the blonde did nothing to soften her vicious attacks.

"Have you forgotten about the Naruto actually nearly died fighting Gaara and the Shukaku just to save your life? Who was the one who cheered you up when Uchiha ignored you? Who was the one who encouraged you to work harder to catch up with them? The one who _never _left you behind? It was _Naruto_, not your Sasuke-_kun_." By this time, Sakura was pale and trembling like a leaf in the wind.

"I really thought better of you. I thought you would be there, there for him after he failed to get back Uchiha because he just lost his closest, no matter how dysfunctional, friend, but you didn't." Ino's intense depths softened with disappointment but hardened again when she regained the vicious stance.

"You know what? We are through. I, Yamanaka Ino, will not acknowledge the presence of you, Haruno Sakura, for as long as I live. That is it! You and I are through; I don't want to put up with your biased, fucked up views any longer." In a fit of righteous anger, Ino tore off the armband Sakura had given her for her tenth birthday and threw it onto the pink-haired kunoichi's feet.

"You don't deserve the friendship of Naruto; what he saw in you, I would never know or understand, because all I see is a hypocritical bitch who hides behind stronger people with similar distorted opinions." With that parting sentence, Ino whipped around and walked out of the training area. Sakura finally retorted, not seeing her friend's point of view at all. Instead, the pink-haired kunoichi defended herself even more rigidly.

"Fine, bitch! Like I care whether you rot in Hell or not!"

Halfway back to the Yamanaka estates, Ino looked up into the sky to find it beautifully highlighted with the sunset hues of crimson, gold and orange and with tears and remorse in her eyes, she whispered.

"Gomennasai, Naruto."

Behind the young girl, hidden by a shop, was a pair of silver orbs glowing with approval.

"_You would make another worthy child…" _

Ino heard someone whisper about being a worthy child and whirled around to catch anything but when she surveyed her surroundings, there was nothing out of the ordinary. Returning to her previous depressing thoughts, Ino was unknowingly chosen as the next Child of the Dragoness.

It was there that Yamanaka Ino had the urge to head to the front gates of the Konoha Village. She was going to take a stroll to relax but what she encountered on her walk would forever change her life.

§

A glint of gold belonging to an earring sparkled in the sunset's light as the usually emotionless dark orbs that belonged to Nara Shikamaru swirled with suppressed anger. The Nara genius had overheard the conversation between Ino and the Haruno chit, and boy was he surprised.

That was three hours ago.

Now he was in his room, his very being consumed by righteous anger, just like his teammate Ino had felt a few hours ago. Shikamaru spent the last two hours going through the seriousness of the whole situation in his head and he had come up with a conclusion: _**Naruto absolutely does not deserve this.**_

Walking out of his room, the lone Nara child made his way to dinner. Nara Sayuri had outdone herself again with a scrumptiously laid out dinner.

"Gochiso samadesta." After dessert, Shikamaru finally spoke up. "Oyaji, tell me about the Kyuubi."

Nara Shikaku's eyes widened upon the request and a resigned glance from his wife answered the question.

"All right, you are old enough to know this anyways." The head of the Nara Clan sighed before starting his story.

"What I tell you must never to tell to a second person." His son nodded his agreement and Shikaku opened his mouth.

"12 years ago, the most powerful of the Bijus, the Kyuubi no Kitsune, attacked Konohagure. Many people died, shinobi and citizens alike, and there was nothing we could do to the Kyuubi because it was simply too powerful until the Yondaime sealed the demon into a newborn baby, and the price of the sealing jutsu was his life, which is why the Sandaime was pulled out of retirement in order to re-govern Konoha."

Shikamaru put two and two together and he whispered, "The newborn was Naruto." Sayuri nodded; remorse flickered in her eyes as she sighed.

"The child has gone through many obstacles and now he's being banished…"

"HE'S BEING BANISHED?!" Shikamaru roared and his parents shrunk back from him, completely unused to this emotional side of their usually lazy and disgruntled son.

"He's being banished for not bringing back a traitor…" Shikamaru whispered to himself in disbelief. Then he laughed.

"What has Konoha become? They are banishing someone who deserves so much more." It was then and there when he made the most important decision of his life.

"Oyaji, Okaa-san, I have decided that I am accompanying Naruto into his banishment." Sayuri stood up to protest but was held down by her husband, who had fatherly pride glittering in his dark depths.

"All right even though I do not agree with your father wholeheartedly, you need a chance to prove yourself but you have to come back in three years. May Kami-sama be with you." Shikaku gave his son a crooked grin and went into the private wing of the estate. Sayuri looked torn between protesting and motherly pride.

"My dear Shika is all grown up; just be careful, okay? Tell Naruto-kun to be careful too." Shikamaru nodded and kissed his mother on the forehead; Sayuri widened her eyes at the unusual display of affection and smiled.

"Come back safe." The shadow user nodded and rushed up to pack every essential that he needed on the _long _trip away from home. Everything included his thick wads of cash that he had saved up from being too lazy to do anything or get anything. When he came down, Sayuri had a bag which had a jutsu to make is much better, filled with food and gave him an extra bag of money.

"The food will last you at least a year and there are 2 million ryos in that pouch. Your father has something to give you." At that moment, Shikaku appeared with two scrolls in his hands that held the Nara crest.

"Oyaji?" Shikamaru widened his eyes when he realized the contents of the scrolls: The family jutsus. Shikaku threw the scrolls at his son, who snapped out of his reverie just in time to catch them.

"Arigato, Oyaji. I'll do my best." Shikamaru bowed and quickstepped to the imposing front gates of the largest Nin village. Little did he know that what he was about to do would change his destiny.

§

Hyuuga Neji held the hand of his cousin, Hyuuga Hinata, the heiress of the Hyuuga clan famed for their bloodline limit, the Byakugan. They were running away from the Souke bodyguards who were on secret orders to remove them. The cousins were close to the point of true siblinghood and when Neji had heard of the plan, he was determined to save his cousin. Neji was a member of the Bunke, the branch clan while Hinata was a Souke, the main clan.

Unknown to them, both Neji and Hinata were targets of an assassination attempt by Hyuuga Hatsumomo, a Head Souke whose son was next in line after Hyuuga Hanabi, Hinata's younger sister. The son was betrothed to Hanabi; therefore with the elimination of Hinata, the son's status of Clan Head would be secured with the pending marriage. Hatsumomo regarded Neji as a threat to the security of her son's future as the young Bunke was seen as the most powerful and gifted Hyuuga member of next generation.

"Hinata, hurry!" Neji whispered as they quickstepped, trying to lose the elite group of bodyguards. Hinata nodded mutely, trying her best to keep up with her older cousin. Alas, the bodyguards were gaining on them.

"Quickly!" Hinata gasped as she nearly tripped but she was supported by her cousin. Channeling all of their chakra to their legs, the pair of Hyuugas sped up, leaping from tree to tree.

Suddenly there was a burst of silver chakra which resonated throughout the area. Neji and Hinata both gasped at the strength of the chakra pulse; whoever created it was extremely powerful. Hinata turned to see what happened but was stopped by a hiss from Neji.

"Don't look; we have to reach the gate!" Hinata nodded, obeying the older brother figure of her life as they sprinted for their lives. But what they missed was the charred corpses of the pursuers, and what was even more bizarre was that only the bodies of the bodyguards were charred, the surroundings were a perfect green, not even a spot burned.

In the distance was a pair of glowing silver orbs that held speculation and appraisal as the eyes regarded the fading backs of the Hyuugas.

§

Rock Lee sighed; this was going nowhere! He had no talent for ninjutsu and genjutsu. He was never going to be a Jounin, almost everyone knew that with a well-placed ninjutsu or genjutsu would knock him out.

However, what was special about Lee was his determination that could enable him to bring down mountains if he was set on it. Due to this fiery determination, Lee's talents in taijutsu could not be denied. And after that fight with Sabaku no Gaara, his body had no exercise for two months due to the recovery needed and now he was suffering for it.

Lee was born without the ability to perform any ninjutsu or genjutsu and as a child with a dream to be a Jounin or an ANBU; this fact was an obstacle in realizing that dream. And Lee was aware of that devastating fact, so aware that he once thought of abandoning that dream and living as a normal but unsatisfied citizen of Konoha.

He was a medical anomaly but the Medic Nins could not find anything wrong with his body, his chakra coils were undeveloped, constricted and arranged in such a pattern that the chakra usage was limited but it was a genetic trait, nothing medically wrong.

When he was younger, Lee used to be taunted and bullied for the fact that he could not perform any ninjutsus or genjutsus. Other children in the Academy would laugh at his inabilities but he strived on, thinking that if his taijutsu was powerful enough, it would cover up his lack of talent regarding ninjutsu and genjutsu casting. It was Gai Sensei who had discovered him one day when the man was strolling.

"_Thirty! Thirty one!" Gai smiled and the young child pushed himself to the limit. The child will last until forty, he thought, the taijutsu expert was a master at predicting the limits of the human body. _

"_Sixty! Sixty One!" Gai was shocked, and he quickly stopped the young boy. _

"_Yamatte! You will hurt yourself even more if you push yourself further. You need to take things one step at a time, straining yourself is not a good way to train your body." The young boy's gaze surprised the taijutsu master, it was twin pools of determined fire and Gai liked the spirit of the boy, but was bewildered at the boy's actions._

"_Why are you pushing yourself so hard?" Gai asked softly and the young boy's answer was tinted with sadness._

"_Ever since I was in the Academy, I could not do ninjutsus and genjutsus, and the other kids kept laughing at me. So I want to be a taijutsu master and make them shut up! That is why I am training so hard! Because I want to the BEST!" Gai laughed, he really liked this kid's spirit._

"_What is your name?"_

"_Lee. Rock Lee." _

"_Okay, Lee, how would you like it if I taught you taijutsu?" The young boy's eyes shone with hope as he nodded. That was the beginning of the close but extremely weird teacher-student relationship between Maito Gai and Rock Lee. _

He owed it to Gai Sensei; without the eccentric man, he would not be here. It was Gai Sensei who would encourage him whenever he was down or troubled and Lee sat up straighter; he was going to prove to himself that he was a man and that is why he would be testing himself outside of Konoha. Grabbing his necessities and writing his teacher a note, Rock Lee set out, determined to prove himself.

What a surprise he would receive once he realized what Lady Luck had in store for him…

§

_Kankuro was dead…_

The sentence ran through the demon vessel again and again as Sabaku no Gaara quickstepped through the forest with his blonde sibling, Temari, who had tears streaming down her face as she mourned for the death of her beloved brother.

"Temari." The cool voice broke the silence between the siblings. The Kazekage, who coincidentally was their father, had ordered their deaths and they were running for their lives.

"Yes, Gaara?" The blonde looked at her brother with sad but determined blue eyes, the loss of one of her brothers had struck her hard however, she had to be strong for her remaining brother.

"We will avenge Kankuro." Gaara whispered as a tear slipped down his face, Temari was shocked to see that crystal of emotion that quickly disappeared. The pair could see Konohagure and once they reach the village, they will be safe.

But alas, a flash of a fire jutsu caught Temari squarely in the back and she stumbled, Gaara widened his eyes and tried to catch her. However, Temari knew that her end was near so she mouthed as she fell from the branches, _"I love you, Gaara, no matter who you are and what you do, because… you… are…my…brother…"_

With those words permanently etched in his mind, Gaara narrowed his eyes and increased his speed. Only Kami-sama would know what the future had in store for him, as Gaara would be given a chance to avenge for his fallen siblings and change Suna, the Sand Village, for the better. The large, imposing gates of Konoha, the Leaf Village, were soon spotted and the Shukaku vessel channeled every single tendril of chakra to reach there.

_I WILL avenge you, Temari… Temari-nee-san and Kankuro… Kankuro-nii-san… _

§

Aburame Shino walked through the throngs of the village. His dark glasses and high collared white coat characterized his heritage; an Aburame. From birth, people of the Aburame clan had a pact with an insect known as Destruction Bugs. In exchange for a lifetime of chakra which the insects use for food, the host in which the bugs live in could call upon their service whenever they needed to. Shino was no different, and has thousands of the insects living inside him. Aburame Shino utilizes the insects by having them sneak attack his enemy, while he distracts them with simple taijutsu. He could also have a clone of himself performed when in danger, or use a female bug as a tracking device hunting down fleeing pursuers.

"_Uzumaki Naruto is going to be banished…"_

That eavesdropped piece of the conversation that had went between his Clan Heads rang in his head and the Aburame was confused. The blonde shinobi had done Konoha a lifetime of service and yet after a failed mission that anyone else would have failed too, he was going to be banished. Logic did not follow him this time and he frowned. The crowd parted for him easily because his family's reputation for being living hives was widely known.

Clearing his head, Aburame Shino went for a stroll, in the direction that would bring him directly to the Great Gate of Konohagure.

§

Ryuu smiled to herself as she sat on the Great Gate of Konoha, waiting for her special ones to appear. The part demon, part goddess being was clearly enjoying herself as she reveled in the breeze that was caressing her pale cheeks. Scanning the area with her chakra, the Dragon smirked when the eight were found close to the gates.

_Ooh, this is going to be interesting…_

§

Naruto blinked, he could not believe his eyes.

§

Ino gasped when she saw Naruto, and then she realized at he was staring beyond her and she turned around. And it was a sight.

§

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow as he saw familiar figures but the state of some slightly worried him. Then it hit him squarely in the head.

§

Neji and Hinata were speechless and stunned as they were met with the sight with familiar people, but looking at a couple of figures, they were rather confused and concerned. Why were some of them carrying satchels? And the pair took a closer look and both the pale Byakugan eyes widened in surprise.

§

Lee widened his eyes and looked at the small group of people that he knew. _Oh dear, I am caught…_

But when he further analyzed the group members, it was actually the complete opposite and his jaw dropped in surprise.

§

Gaara reached the Gates but nothing could prepare him for the shock that he would inwardly receive when he was greeted with the sight of the familiar Konoha gennins with interestingly different conditions. He raised an eyebrow.

§

Shino's eyebrows disappeared into his hairline as all logic fled when he inspected the group before him.

§

The Eight had unknowingly met in front of the front gates of Konoha and they were startled when a woman landed elegantly in the middle of the circle that the eight had unconsciously formed.

"Are all of you ready?" Mischievousness sparkled in those ageless orbs as the woman regarded the circle with her metallic grey eyes. Somehow the octet realized that she was not someone anyone would toy with and they found themselves nodding, as if under a compulsion genjutsu.

"Excellent." The slender female's grey eyes suddenly glowed an ethereal silver and the octet found themselves in sudden darkness.

_Relax, all of you are just merely receiving what Fate has in store for all of you…and Nara, don't you even dare think that it's going to be troublesome…_

Then everyone in the octet except Gaara blanched or snickered, and from then on, the Eight knew, no matter how much they want to deny, that their destines were written closely together.

* * *

Hello Everyone! This is my first attempt at writing Naruto Fanfiction so please excuse my blatant mistakes. Constructive Criticism is very much appreciated and I live on Reviews! Hope you enjoy Eight Dragons and a Fox! 

- Kage Ryuu Tenshi


	2. II: The Lone Wolf and a Regret

* * *

Naruto was banished after failing to retrieve Sasuke. After a mysterious woman makes a deal with Tsunade, the Kitsune becomes her one of her eight students and under her tutelage; Naruto learns the Forbidden Arts and merges with the Kyuubi. KakaNaru. Yaoi

* * *

_**- A good leader is a person who takes a little more than his share of the blame and a little less than his share of the credit.**_ _By John C. Maxwell _

§

"_Is that the son of the White Fang?"_

"_Yes, I heard that he graduated from the Academy at the age of five and a year later became Chunin."_

"_Genius, pure talent. Chunin at the age of six, that is unheard of!"_

"_We should not expect less from the son of Konoha's White Fang."_

That was when he was elevated to the Chunin status at the young age of six and Hatake Kakashi was subjected to praise and positive appraisal from almost every angle. His peers and his elders, almost everyone but his father, refused to let all this praise get into his young son's head.

"_My son, pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall. Do well to remember that always."_

"_Hai, Chichue." _

Kakashi has always idolized his father, Hatake Sakumo, who was the famed White Fang of Konoha and was respected as much as the Legendary Sannins. Sakumo was a valued member of the ANBU, specializing in the art of assassination and infiltration of enemy camps; once you are targeted, you are doomed. However, a few years after Kakashi was made a Chunin, Sakumo failed a critically important mission to save his comrades' lives and as a result, he was disgraced.

"_The White Fang was an Elite, he should have known that his comrades' lives were less important than that mission! Especially a mission of that level of importance!"_

"_We thought better of him! Risking the safety of Konohagure for the meager few lives of his comrades, he has disgraced himself as a Shinobi and an ANBU!" _

"_Totally, utterly dishonoring the Shinobi Code!" _

"_The White Fang of Konoha is no more; he has been a disappointment and a disgrace to Konoha." _

Dishonored, Sakumo committed Seppuku after falling into a deep depression and a drop in his skills, with his young Chunin son as a witness. After his father's suicide, Kakashi began to adhere strictly to the rules of the shinobi – in particular the rule dictating that the success of the mission must come before the well being of one's teammates, causing him to become arrogant, humorless, and by-the-book.

"_Well done, Kakashi."_

"_Congratulations, Kakashi-kun, on making Jounin!" _

"_Yeah... congratulations."_

Kakashi found himself in a team consisting of Uchiha Obito and Rin, which was mentored by the future Forth Hokage, Kazuma Arashi who was widely known was Konoha's Yellow Flash. As a reward for his accomplishment, Kakashi was assigned to lead his team on a sabotage mission to blow up a bridge in order to prevent enemy forces from attacking Konoha. However, shortly after the mission began, Rin was captured by enemy forces; Obito immediately voiced his intention to save her.

"_Hatake! We have to save Rin, she's our __teammate!"_

"_The mission itself is more important than her life; when she took the job as a Shinobi, she was well aware of the Code and the repercussions that she might encounter, and that includes death by enemy Shinobis." _

Though Kakashi believed that they had to complete their objective, Obito eventually convinced him that his father had done the right thing in saving his teammates, causing Kakashi to join in on the rescue effort.

"_Hatake, I know that you are a snobby, capable asshole but this is just downright heartless. I honestly thought better of you! If you're not going to save Rin, then I am!"_

During their attempt to save Rin, Kakashi lost his left eye as a result of an enemy ninja's attack. To protect Kakashi, Obito managed to awaken his Sharingan and killed Kakashi's assailant. Soon after saving Rin, Obito again saved Kakashi, pushing him out of the way of another enemy's rock-dislodging attack but getting crushed in the process. Shortly before he died, Obito had Rin (a medical ninja) implant his Sharingan eye in Kakashi's damaged eye socket as a gift.

"_Kaka...shi… Even though… I always… went against…you… I still… regarded… you as my closest friend… take the eye and take…care…of…Rin…"_

"_I promise you that I will…"_

"_Thank...you…"_

As his first act with his new eye, Kakashi avenged Obito by killing the enemy ninja with his now-perfected Chidori technique, bringing the Kakashi of today into being. Since then, the reason for his chronic lateness surfaced from his frequent visits to the Memorial, where Obito's name was carved. This habit stayed with him for the rest of his life, even years later when Kakashi would become a member of the Konohagure ANBU where he served as a squad leader.

"_Hmm…How can I say this? My first impression is…I don't like you guys!" _

"_Okay… Let's begin with some introductions."_

"_What do you want to know?"_

"_Dreams for the future, hobbies, stuff like that."_

"_Hey hey, why don't you introduce yourself to us first?"_

"_Yeah... You look suspicious…"_

"_Oh… Me? My name is Hatake Kakashi. I have no desire to tell you guys about my likes and dislikes… Dreams for the future? Hmm… Well, I have lots of hobbies…_

"_So… All we have learned… is his name?"_

"_Now it's your turn, from the right."_

"_Me!!! Me!!! My name is Uzumaki Naruto. I like Cup Ramen!!! What I like even more is the restaurant ramen Iruka Sensei buys me. What I dislike is waiting three minutes for the cup ramen to cook."_

_Does he think about anything beside ramen?_

"_My dream… is to surpass the Hokage!!! And then... have all the people of this village to acknowledge my existence!!!"_

_He's grown in an interesting way…_

"_Hobbies… Pranks… I guess."_

_I see…_

"_Next."_

"_My name is Uchiha Sasuke. There are tons of things I dislike but I don't really like anything. And… I don't want to use the word 'dream' but… I have an ambition. The resurrection of my clan and… to kill a certain man."_

_I thought so…_

"_Okay… And lastly, the girl."_

"_I'm Haruno Sakura; the thing I like is… Well the person I like is… Umm… Should I say my dream for the future…? OH MY!!!" _

_I was speechless…_

"_The thing I dislike… is Naruto."_

"_My hobby is…" _

_The facial expression on Naruto's face was rather comical and it was quite obvious what she like, who she liked and who was involved in her dreams… Girls of this age are more interested in love than in ninjutsu…_

"_Okay! That's enough of that. We will start our duties tomorrow."_

"_YAY! What kinds of duties??!!! Duties!!! Duties!!!" _

_That kid has the loudest voice, biggest mouth I've never met. _

"_First we are going to do something with just the four of us."_

"_What? What?!" _

_Man… Hyperactive much?_

"_Survival training."_

The next day, the newly put together team met on a training ground and Kakashi give them a mission: Retrieve the bells on him or fail to make a legitimate team. As predicted, they did not due to their inability to work together as an efficient team.

"_You guys… I'll give you one more chance. But after lunch I'll make it even tougher to get the bells. Those who still wish to challenge can eat lunch. But don't give any to Naruto."_

"_Huh?"_

"_It's punishment for trying to eat by himself and if anyone gives him any food, they will fail immediately. I am the rules here! Got it?" _

Unexpectedly, both Sasuke and Sakura offered the tied-up boy their bentos. Kakashi had expected them to follow every single word of his orders, especially Sakura, who was known to be a teacher's pet.

"_What's this?! YOU GUYS!!!"_

"_AWWWWW!!!"_

"_Heh. You pass."_

"_Pass? But why?_

"_You guys are the first."_

"_Huh?"_

"_Everyone else would just do whatever I told them. They were all just morons. A ninja must see underneath the underneath. Those who break the rules and codes of the ninja word are called trash. But you know what? Those who don't take care of their comrades…"_

"_Are lower than trash."_

"_This ends the training. All of you pass!!!" _

"_Okay!!! Starting tomorrow Team 7 will begin its duties!!!"_

"_YAY!!! I did it!! I did it!! Ninja!!!_ _Ninja!!! Ninja!!!" _

From that moment on, the close but dysfunctional bond of Team 7 made its lasting mark. For the next few years, the team grew closer and closer, stronger and stronger. Until Orochimaru left a mark that would destroy the team: his Cursed Seal. From then on, things just went downhill, to the point where Sasuke defected and left Konoha to pursue a twisted mentor-student relationship with the devious Snake Sannin.

Now, years later since their first mission, perched precariously on a tree branch of a majestic tree near the edge of the cliff facing the sea, Hatake Kakashi was drowning in his own thoughts.

_I…I am entirely at fault; I was responsible for Team 7, every single one of the three gennins and I turned out to be the most incompetent teacher alive in the village by blatantly favoring one, causing the others to be let down. If Sensei was alive, he would be completely and utterly disappointed in me and to think that I was his prized student…_

_Most importantly, I am a failure who nurtured a traitor despite knowing the possible risks and outcome, I totally ignored everything else because I saw a flicker of myself in that tormented soul… and by doing so, I have disappointed everyone... Including… including myself…_

_Gomennasai Naruto…._

A hitaite covered his left eye and a mask revealed nothing else but his right eye, which was of a dark hazel hue and currently flooded with pain. That night, Kakashi Hatake willingly admitted that he was a failure who was blinded by names and talent, a failure who had failed to see potential and a failure who failed to meet his own Code of Living.

He was a person who was worse than trash because he had failed to take care of his comrades…

§

"No, I will not allow you to resign." Tsunade regarded Kakashi with a cool stare, the Jounin sighed and asked.

"Why?"

"Because Konoha needs all the help that it can get and letting you go now is absolutely out of the question." The Hokage then rubbed her temples and tried to impart a piece of consolation.

"Look, I know that you blame yourself for Naruto's banishment. I am not going to mince words and I am going to tell you that yes, you are an indirect cause of the whole shebang, but it was not your decision to make. The Council has been itching and looking for a reason for years to do that, the failure of the retrieve mission was merely an excuse for them to do finally realize their _dream_. So stop hitting yourself and get to work."

Kakashi was surprised; he had not expected forgiveness from anyone, much less from the formidable Hokage who regarded Naruto as a brother. Taking her advice, he nodded and retrieved his resignation letter from the table.

"You will be reinstated as an ANBU squad leader since your Team is as good as dissolved, you will wait for your first mission the day after the next. Shall I recall your former team or would you want to have a completely new group?" The Jounin shrugged because he could not care less, a team is a team and they were all ANBU members anyways, so they have to be good. "Another thing is to tell Sakura to come up here in the evening; I want to talk to her about her medical Nin lessons." Kakashi nodded and as he was turning to leave, he was stopped by Tsunade.

_It is one thing to admit it to yourself, but it is entirely another when another person other than you confirms it; it just makes the whole thing even more valid, even more painful to deal with…_

"And one more thing… I… I am sorry for your loss." The tall copy-cat ninja nodded curtly and left. Tsunade sighed and closed her eyes.

_This Hokage business is going to kill me one of these days… and I am itching for a cup of sake… _

§

"Hey Obito," Kakashi whispered to the Memorial Stone as he sat beside it. The breeze was pleasant as it caressed the partially covered cheeks of the Jounin.

"I've done another stupid thing after another. The first mistake resulted in your death and the second resulted in a traitor and a let down. Maybe you shouldn't have taken that hit for me; you would have been a much better Sensei with your personality and I wouldn't have minded the death if it prevented me from making another mistake." The breeze danced around him playfully, reminding the Jounin of the similar nature of his deceased best friend.

"Fine, I'll do better next time. Thank you Obito." With the curve of his visible eye, the copy-cat ninja left in better spirits. As he walked away from the memorial stone, a semi-transparent manifestation of a grinning teenaged boy with gravity-defying black hair and a tacky looking pair of goggles appeared on the stone, staring at the retreating back of his visitor.

_Do your best, Kakashi… I've never regretted taking that blow for you… Just don't waste the chance that my sacrifice gave you…_

§

Ryuu swept the sleeping forms of her charges with silver eyes that glowed rather eerily in the dark room that she was sitting in. Sighing, the powerful being closed her eyes and gritted her teeth.

"You can come out now, you bastard."

The lithe, resting body of Naruto straightened itself on the mat and the young Kitsune sat up. Upon opening his eyelids, gleaming crimson red eyes were revealed. Naruto stretched and sauntered up to the Celestial being.

"_**Hello, my dear Ryuu."**_ The ruby orbs of the Kyuubi held a glint of dark amusement as the Demon swept its appraising gaze over Ryuu. Smirking, the Demon caressed the pale cheeks of the part Demon. Ryuu flinched and moved away from the touch.

"_**Still as striking as ever, aren't you? And for your information, my parents were married before I born, therefore that comment did not actually count." **_Sensuality laced its baritone as the Kyuubi's feral grin widened, not an uncommon sight from the blonde vessel's face. But coupled with the unearthly red eyes, the young vessel was demonic in aura and in sight.

"_**So after two hundred years of separation, do you miss me?"**_

"Miss you?" Ryuu scoffed, silver orbs glinting with hurt and betrayal. The horrendous orange garb that the young vessel wore transformed into an elegant crimson yukata, and then Naruto's hair started turning a dark auburn, not unlike blood, and it lengthened out into a shoulder length wave. The menacing crimson orbs turned a soft golden that glittered knowingly and the teenager's awkward body morphed into a slender, lithe body belonging to a graceful young adult. Finally Naruto's face changed into one with extreme handsomeness that bordered on loveliness and his canines elongated noticeably to give the gorgeous man a dangerous edge. All together, the man was a sight to behold.

"Why would I miss you?" The beautiful woman narrowed her eyes and the man chuckled, leaned in and whispered in Ryuu's ear, causing unwanted but pleasant shivers to go down her spine. _Damn it, after all these years, his voice still has that much control over me… _

"_**Of course you would miss me; after all, I was your lover." **_Ryuu clenched her fist and with determined metallic eyes, the Dragoness met the dancing golden orbs and answered.

"The operative word being _was_ and that was until you decided to leave." The Golden Fox still had an infuriating smile on his lips and Ryuu longed to punch that smile off his face, but stopped herself as she reminded herself that the body belonged to her charge.

"_**But that doesn't mean that you didn't miss me." **_To the Kitsune's surprise, the Dragoness's silver orbs dulled in agreement as she spoke softly, in a haunting voice laced with tired melancholy.

"Yes, you're right. I missed you and I even loved you. But you were not satisfied with that alone, you wanted power and you were willing to sacrifice what we had to gain it. I was second to your lust for power, I thought I could change you… but I was proven wrong." A sad smile graced the beautiful being's face, turning it into a captivating yet sorrowful masterpiece. The fox demon was speechless as he could literally feel the sorrow for himself.

"_**Ryuu, I…" **_Another sad smile disarmed him.

"There is no need for you to say anything else; I've come to accept the fact that I was not important to you over the last two hundred years. _I was merely a tool_. Nothing you say now will change anything between us. You and I have nothing but memories to cling to." Resignation crept into the demi-goddess's voice and the golden eyes of the Kitsune hardened as he sudden pressed his hard body onto hers, trapping her between the stone wall and his body. He forcefully pulled down the collar of her attire and standing out starkly against the smooth alabaster skin of her clavicle, was a small golden and red tattoo of a fire fox that had nine tails.

"_**See that mark? That is the mark of a Mate of a Kitsune, and whose mark is that? **__**Mine.**__**" **_He growled, golden eyes flashing possessively. Ryuu looked away and the Kitsune grabbed her chin, tilting her head to make her eyes meet his. Lifeless silver met raging golden and then the Kitsune rapidly released his bruising hold. Widening his eyes, the Fox Demon realized what he had done.

"_**I am so sor –"**_ The apology came out quick but he was cut off by Ryuu's cutting remark.

"Stop apologizing, both you and I know that it is empty, so why bother? Release your hold over Naruto's body now, it is not your place to do so and you know it. Return Naruto to reality now." The Kitsune hesitated as he locked a pleading gaze with the silvers he had loved so much, which now hardened into an unmovable metallic.

"_Now._ Before I do it for you." Without another word, the Kitsune morphed back into the shorter body of his container. The blonde Jinchuriki collapsed but before he could hit the floor, Ryuu broke the fall and caught the still asleep boy and then laid him to rest.

"Sleep well, my charge. A new day begins tomorrow." Ryuu caressed the boy's forehead with a long pale finger and the silver mark of hers flashed before disappearing into the skin again. Walking to the door, Ryuu proceeded to leave the room but not without a backward glance at the sleeping container of her lover.

What Ryuu had missed was the green, kohl-lined eyes that lingered in the corner, minutely widened in disbelief as the owner absorbed the shocking revelation.

§

"Damn you, Arashi. This is way too much for me to handle, I should not have agreed in the first place!" Ryuu raged at the lesser deity as the blonde sighed, his blue eyes filled with sympathy.

"I am sorry, but you are the only one who can help Naruto control the Kyuubi and you have an oath to fulfill," Kazuma Arashi ran a hand through his spiky blonde locks and exhaled. The Yondaime was granted a seat in the Lesser Council of Immortals in reward for his heroism and selflessness; in exchange for sealing the Kyuubi no Kitsune away in a newborn's body, Arashi had to sacrifice his life for the amount of power needed to contain the powerful Fox Demon.

"I just didn't know that the Kyuubi was your ex-lover. I am sorry." Ryuu sighed and shook her head, resignation radiating from her very core as she batted away the apology.

"It's not your fault; you didn't know and couldn't have known." Arashi's blue eyes relayed more sympathy, and then Ryuu gestured for the novice deity to sit. When the lesser deity was comfortably settled, Ryuu spoke up.

"I'll tell you what you need to know so you will not get confused again." The blonde nodded and Ryuu began her tale.

"Kyuu and I were Demon royalty; he was the son of the Kitsune Lord and I was the illegitimate but only the daughter of the Ryuu Lord. We met a hundred thousand years ago when his father came to visit my father; we did not hit off. At all." A glint of reminiscence entered her eyes while a hint of nostalgia entered her voice.

"We danced around each other for another thirty thousand years until our parents betrothed us. It was also around then when both of us entered our adulthood and my first heat. Kyuu turned out to be my legitimate mate and he bonded with me, for the next forty thousand years we were happy but as he neared his seven hundred thousandth year, he began to show signs of being power hungry…" Ryuu trailed off in pain, stopped for a moment but regain her momentum in the storytelling.

"I noticed but I said nothing, thinking that it would pass soon enough and I thought that our love that bordered on seventy thousand years would be strong enough to overcome anything. But I was mistaken and around two hundred years ago, he left me. I heard of the damage he dealt twelve years ago and I swore to help him repent his sins, so I sat around and waited for the right time to strike and earn repentance." Ryuu paused again, trying to rein her emotions in.

"For twelve long years I have observed and watched over Naruto and for twelve long years I have seen every single taunt, blow and insult that has been thrown at him. Even for a being with more than several hundred thousand years behind her, that was one of the cruelest things I have ever seen in my life. A child wrongly condemned for something he did not even do. Then I thought when he succeeded in passing the Academy, he would have a chance at changing his life. But I was wrong again; he suffered another betrayal when Uchiha deserted his team and Haruno, the girl that Naruto would have been willing to die for, blamed the entire thing on him. By the time I got to him, he had a broken soul! A broken soul at twelve!" Ryuu buried her face into her hands as she continued in a hysterical voice.

"And I was the cause of the broken soul! If I had stopped Kyuu from leaving or tried harder to stop his power lust, nothing like that would have happened!" Arashi tried to soothe the powerful being beside him.

"Ryuu-sama, there was nothing you could have done; it is all how Lady Fate has written it down. What has happened is in the past and there is nothing we can change about the past. What we can do is to write our own future." Ryuu looked up and the intensity of the guilt and sorrow shown in her eyes pierced through the deceased Yondaime of Konoha's heart and soul. Taking a deep breath, the Dragoness recollected herself and smiled, albeit slightly shakily, at her friend.

"Thank you." Arashi inclined his head and returned a charming grin. Then, taking out scrolls that held the Kazuma crest, Arashi handed them to Ryuu, who had a knowing glint in her eyes.

"When you think Naruto is ready, give him the scrolls and if needed, please assist him in learning every single Jutsu on the parchment. I cannot ask more from you." Ryuu nodded and Arashi bowed, hands on the floor and his head touching the floor. Ryuu accepted the bow and Arashi looked up, winked, and disappeared in a blaze of flashy golden magic. Ryuu smiled fondly at the young deity's actions.

"Newbies…" she chuckled, and her sour mood improved slightly; "always liked to show off."

§

Tsunade sighed, and then a miniature golden dragon flew in with a letter attached to one of its claws and a bag attached to the other. The Hokage was awestruck when the rare creature bowed and offered the letter by extending its claw out to her. Tsunade gingerly removed the rolled up parchment and read.

_Tsunade-hime,_

_Due to last minute changes, instead of a student that I had bargained for, I gain an extra seven. The whole incident seemed to be accidental; therefore instead of sending them back, I would like make use of this chance to educate them. Besides, it seems the Konohagure needs a little more power after the barriers come down, doesn't it? It's a win-win situation for both of us, your beloved Konoha will gain more powerful protectors and I will keep those brats out of your hair for quite some time, while I get to pass down my teachings and leave a legacy behind. The extra students are Aburame Shino, Hyuuga Hinata, Hyuuga Neji, Nara Shikamaru, Rock Lee, Yamanaka Ino and interestingly, Sabaku no Gaara, whose affliction is similar to Naruto's. I trust you to make up a simple yet adequate cover up to prevent anyone else from knowing and if needed, Shizune-san can be allowed into the secret. And one more thing, keep Hatake Kakashi alive, he will be of a large importance to Naruto's future. _

_You might want to keep tabs on Hyuuga Hatsumomo, that old crone might have some tricks up her sleeves, as for the bag, it's one of my crest amulets and if needed, one drop of blood on the amulet and one of my Dragons Warriors will come to your aid. Use it wisely._

_R. _

Tsunade nearly screamed when she saw the names of the remaining seven. _Hyuuga_… _Hiashi is going to murder me and the Kazekage is going to have my hide pinned up on his wall._ Shizune entered the office when cup of green tea when she saw her mentor banging her head onto the table.

"Tsunade-sama!" At the call of her name, the Hokage stopped the banging and looked up. Shizune's dark eyes were filled with worry.

"Are you all right? You seem rather distraught and I brought some tea." Tsunade smiled gratefully as she took the cup and sipped from it. Tsunade decided to let her apprentice into the secret.

"Shizune, recently I made a deal with a Demon." The apprentice's eyes widened comically as she spluttered.

"What? You…you…made a de…deal with a DEMON?!" Tsunade sighed and nodded. _This is harder than I thought it was going to be…_

"Which…which…one?"

"The Ryuukotsusei." Shizune then calmed down slightly; apparently the Dragon Demon did not have that bad of a reputation and it helped having Celestial blood running through her veins.

"What as the deal about?" This time the apprentice was genuinely curious and Tsunade sighed, continuing her tale.

"The Ryuukotsusei wanted to teach Naruto how to control the Kyuubi and I agreed in exchange for the barriers that will protect Konohagure for the next two years, so no one with ill intentions towards the Village will be able to enter. And what was _not_ part of the deal was the Ryuukotsusei had an extra of seven students." Tsunade showed Shizune the letter and the more the apprentice read, the wider her eyes got.

"_Gaara?! Hyuugas?! _Hiashi and the Kazekage are going to kill you!" Tsunade nodded grimly and then spoke up again.

"That is why I am going to lie, and say that the seven are sent on a special, classified two year mission and will come back safe." Shizune considered the plan and then nodded.

"That is a good pla –" The knock on the door suddenly reminded Tsunade of the meeting that she had arranged with a certain pink-haired kunoichi.

"Come in," Haruno Sakura came in with hope glittering in her green depths and Tsunade growled inwardly as she regarded the girl who had caused her brother immense pain. Resisting her urge to use her superhuman strength to punch her face in, Tsunade plastered an extremely fake smile onto her attractive face.

"Sakura, you do know that I have called you here to discuss your Medical Nin education, right?"

"Hai, Sensei!" Tsunade raised a blonde eyebrow as she regarded the young teenager.

"Who are you calling Sensei? I didn't remember asking you to be my disciple." Sakura then flushed red with embarrassment as Tsunade mocked her subtly.

"But I thought you said that you were going to discuss my lessons with you…" Under the cold, critical stare of the Godaime and her apprentice, Sakura felt like digging a hole to hide in or begging the floor to open up and swallow her.

"Yes, Ms. Haruno. Meet your new Sensei, Shizune." Tsunade sent her apprentice a glance filled with meaning and Shizune caught it immediately. Sakura spluttered and protested.

"But… but… she's… not… good…enough…" Tsunade allowed her anger simmer but not get out hand as she asked the young kunoichi softly but anyone could recognize a dangerous edge to the voice.

"Are you implying that I am a bad teacher? Hmmh?" Sakura flushed an even deeper red and shook her head, then apologized quickly and left in silent tears. Shizune raised an eyebrow.

"Wow, what's the occasion?"

"She hurt Naruto." At that justification, Shizune's eyes narrowed in indignation and understanding.

"I'll make her life a living hell." Shizune nodded curtly and excused herself; Tsunade found herself smiling grimly as she looked out of the office's window, into the Village.

_One down, the whole Village to go…_

§

I have died and gone to heaven! I didn't expect that much of a positive reaction! I LOVE YOU ALL REVIEWERS!!!! 3

**Mimiru-motomia:** MY VERY FIRST REVIEWER! Brownie Points to you! Thank you for reviewing and here's your chappie!

**xXxLuna-the-ChosenxXx**** , Azn-Cool-Chan, genbo, White Raven6, RaitenKitsune, Starlit, Chiyo Uotani, Serpentine.Serenity, Talchy, where'smycookie, Halo666, Carcas, D-Chan3, KunochiDreamer, Beloved Shadow of Light : **Thank you! Hugs and Kisses!

**stringer13**: Don't worry, Sakura and Sasuke bashing coming up!

**xBunni** Of Course our dear Naru-chan will be the uke! Count on it! . O

ALERT: Anyone who wants a pairing in the story can make their opinions known, just pop in the reviews and maybe we can work out something. 

**Decided pairings: **

NejiInoShika

Love and until next update,

Kage Ryuu Tenshi

9


	3. III: Settling In and a Surprise

**Eight Dragons and a Fox**

* * *

Naruto was banished after failing to retrieve Sasuke. After a mysterious woman makes a deal with Tsunade, the Kitsune becomes her one of her eight students and under her tutelage; Naruto learns the Forgotten Arts and merges with the Kyuubi. KakaNaru. Yaoi

* * *

_**Disclaimer: Nothing except for Ryuu and some techniques are mine! Dedication: To all my BELOVED reviewers, cookie points for all who reviewed!!!**_

* * *

Chapter III: Settling In and a Surprise

_**- All fixed set patterns are incapable of adaptability or pliability. The truth is outside of all fixed patterns.**__ By Bruce Lee_

§

Ryuu swept her eyes over the octet that Lady Fate decreed her and a small inkling of pride seeped into her heart as she realized the potential that was there for her to nurture.

Uzumaki Naruto. The Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi no Kitsune was perhaps the one with the most potential amongst the eight students but he was also one of the most damaged in the group. However - Ryuu smiled to herself inwardly - he would be pleasure to teach because of his willingness to do whatever it took to protect Konohagakure. What had Konoha done to the boy to deserve such loyalty from someone whom the whole village had shunned? What was interesting was the boy's affinity for learning spells that required large chakra capacity, thus making him a suitable candidate for forbidden offensive and massive defensive jutsus…

Sabaku no Gaara. The young boy was the demonic vessel of the Ichibi no Shukaku, the one-tailed Demon raccoon-dog and by the looks of it, the Shukaku did not allow the boy to rest because Ryuu could sense the cracks in his mind. Frowning, the Dragoness decided to have a one to one _talk_ with the Demon residing in the recesses of the young man's mind. Despite his emotionless exterior, Ryuu could feel loneliness that the young man was projecting in waves and she sighed. Life wasn't very fair to young people these days… After a week of observing her pupil, Ryuu found that the young Sabaku had a brilliant mind that could rival Shikamaru for its analyzing prowess…

Hyuuga Hinata. The young girl was another interesting character with a dark secret in the shadowy recesses of her mind, waiting for the right moment to surface and possibly take over her overly meek personality. However, Ryuu was impressed with the young Hyuuga's control of chakra; she would make an excellent Medic Nin and despite the timid exterior, the young lady was known to be fiercely loyal to the people she pledged loyalty to and she could put up a mean fight if the need arose. And her almost perfect and calm flow of her chakra in her chakra paths could potentially mean that the young woman was suitable for the Water Arts.

Hyuuga Neji. The acknowledged Genius of the Hyuuga Clan and what irony that was when it was known that the young boy was from the Bouke side of the large family, it was quite the insult to the Soukes and it made Ryuu laugh. The boy was just like his cousin - the chakra flow in his chakra paths were almost perfect and resembled water; however, there was a larger part of him that cackled with almost unsuppressed chakra that closely resembled Lightning. Interesting… Lightning… Hinata and Neji would make an excellent pair in fights because of their almost startling compatibility. Water compliments and conducts Electricity and Electricity boosts the power of Water. Ryuu laughed again. Hyuugas were throwing away their most powerful members; oh well, it was after all said that one person's trash is another's treasure.

Aburame Shino. With his admittedly useful Kekkei Genkai that enabled him to control those special bugs; however, it could be modified because the bugs were only at the first level and perhaps she could help with the evolving. There was another thing about the silent boy that intrigued her - he was not at all close to Naruto and yet Lady Fate insisted on bringing him along onto the journey. But she was not impatient for the answer; sooner or later, mused Ryuu, the answer would come along.

Yamanaka Ino. One of the two girls in the octet and Ryuu laughed to see that she had been severely underestimated by her peers at one point or another. With her mind jutsus, Ino had a unique understanding of the human mind and at some point, she had unconsciously built up quite sturdy defenses in her mind to barricade against such attacks. The Dragoness had also found an impressively strong will to stick to and carry out her beliefs, plus a fierce loyalty to her friends. She would make a remarkable interrogator with her tactics and techniques.

Rock Lee. That boy made her cringe painfully with his ridiculous fashion sense and over the top cheerfulness but the shinobi made up for his silliness with his iron will to improve and learn to the best of his abilities. Nothing a good make-over and a pair of insistent girls could not change but to be honest, Ryuu was most impressed by Lee because of his determination and the acceptance of what was best for him, and it also helped when the boy already opened the first five of the Eight Gates. She would just have to help the boy learn the rest of the Gates and perhaps work a way around the death penalty for the last one. And his chakra paths admittedly needed a lot of work to regain some of its suppleness and gain some growth.

Nara Shikamaru. The boy with a mind that could only appear once in a few generations and unfortunately, a lazy streak that came in the size of the Continent. Ryuu smiled grimly; she was going to have a heck load of fun breaking that streak. However, Shikamaru was a boy with firm beliefs and the fact that he actually was willing to accompany Naruto into the exile was enough proof for Ryuu to see his sincerity and loyalty to friends. His affinity with Shadows did not hurt his chances at becoming a formidable Shinobi.

"Hinata-chan, come to me." The coy girl answered the beckoning and bowed respectfully; Ryuu lifted the bent head with a finger under her chin and smiled softly.

"You are not worthless, no matter what your father and your sister say, and I bet your sister is jealous of your prettiness." Ryuu winked while Hinata blushed; Naruto was cheering in the background.

Then the Dragoness turned serious and asked, "Hinata, are you willing to go through the hardships and pain to be my disciple?" Hinata nodded, pale eyes hard with resolve. Ryuu smiled and nodded.

"Close your eyes." Hinata complied and Ryuu brushed her finger against the pale forehead. A silvery blue imprint of the Dragon appeared with a soft light and then sunk into the girl's skin. When Hinata opened her eyes, there were swirls of silver mixed with the pale white of the Byakugan orbs and Ryuu smiled with pride when the girl realized the change within her. Smiling softly, Hinata bowed again and regained her place beside her cousin.

"Neji. Come up." The proud twelve year old boy came up to Ryuu with the bearing of someone much older and an air of arrogance. Ryuu sighed inwardly and commanded the boy.

"Remove the hitaite." Hinata gasped when she saw the saltire branded on her cousin's otherwise smooth and pale forehead. Ryuu's silver eyes softened with sadness and then she placed her finger on the mark while Neji closed his eyes. Ryuu closed her eyes too in concentration and after a few moments, the mark disappeared completely and was replaced with a silvery golden dragon mark that also sunk into his skin. Neji reopened his eyes and there were golden swirls mixed with the Byakugan white. The boy then lifted his hand to touch the area where the mark that could have killed him used to lay, only to find it gone.

"How did you…" Neji felt a rising of raw emotion up his throat, choking him. Ryuu merely give him a soft smile and the young boy actually bowed; the rest of the octet was marveled at the rare sight of the arrogant Hyuuga expressing gratitude.

"Shikamaru, wake up and get your butt here." Unable to refuse for the fear of him being fried, Shikamaru actually obeyed for once. Naruto and Lee actually snickered and the disgruntled boy shot them a glare before rolling his eyes.

"I am not going to ask you the question because it is _painfully_ obvious that you are _too _lazy to answer." To her surprise, Shikamaru actually smirked.

"You're actually smart." Ryuu rolled her eyes but smiled nonetheless before conducting the marking. A silvery black dragon appeared on his forehead and then sunk into the skin. When Shikamaru reopened his eyes, there were minute silver flecks in the dark depths and the young genius gave his mentor a lazy smirk before returning to stand beside Ino.

"Ino, please come up." The blonde girl bowed her head respectfully and closed her eyes without being told to, which signaled her answer. Ryuu chuckled and placed her finger onto the girl's forehead and in the finger's place, a silvery white dragon stood out starkly against the slightly tanned skin and like Shikamaru's eyes, the dark hazel depths held silvery flecks that glinted in the sunlight.

"Lee-kun." The habitually overenthusiastic boy was unusually quiet as he made his way to the Dragoness; he bowed and answered the unspoken question.

"I am honored to be your student." Ryuu nodded and then placed her finger on his forehead, and then a mark of a silvery emerald dragon appeared and then disappeared into the skin.

"Gaara, do you trust me?" Diamond hard emerald eyes signaled an affirmative as the boy nodded stoically. Ryuu smiled and placed her finger on to his tattoo, which morphed into a golden red dragon mark and settled into his skin. Lastly Shino was asked to come up.

"Hai, Shishou." Ryuu smiled and when she performed the marking, Shino's dragon was of a silvery red color. Ryuu then faced her octet of students and at that single moment, all of the marks resurfaced and the eight students acknowledged the bond that they shared with the Demi-Goddess. During that moment of connection, Ryuu was given information about her students through the link and she was saddened by some of her students' past, particularly Gaara's. Suddenly Ryuu's eyes glowed an eerie silver and she declared.

"With my Mark etched onto you, each of you are the Eight Carriers of the Dragon Legacy."

§

Orochimaru laughed inwardly as he sauntered towards the younger of the Uchiha brothers. The pale Shinobi was a former student of the Sandaime and was a third of the Densetsu no Sannin; also known as the Legendary Three Ninjas. While under the Third's tutelage, the Sandaime recognized Orochimaru's natural talent and as the years went by, the Sandaime became more aware of the malice and a lust for power within the young genius.

After spending many years learning under the Third, Orochimaru began acting upon his inner desires of obtaining immortality in hopes of learning every single jutsu in existence. To accomplish this goal, the snake-like Sannin began to abduct villages to experiment on them, to try to understand the workings of the body better so that he could also understand what modifications the human body could handle. After he was passed over during the consideration of being Yondaime, Orochimaru dropped the secretive façade and began to even experiment even more. He was discovered one day but he escaped when the Third could not bear to kill him and in turn, he left Konoha and joined the Akatsuki.

The thirst of gaining power and strength had driven the once brilliant prodigy into the depths of insanity.

"Uchiha Sasuke, what brings you to my humble abode?" The silky voice of Orochimaru caressed the young boy, then the Sharingan and the Curse Seal activated as the boy answered the question wordlessly. He was here to gain power.

"Ahhh, I see. You want me to teach you so that you can kill Itachi to avenge for your Clan." The emotionless boy nodded and trained his dark red gaze on the snake-like shinobi, who smirked and walked closer to him.

"Well, I can say yes but in exchange for my tutelage, I want your body after you defeated Itachi." Sasuke hesitated but Orochimaru knew that the boy would agree because his main priority is to gain the knowledge and the strength to defeat his older brother and everything else came second.

"Hn." The devious smirk on Orochimaru grew even larger and more sinister while he clapped his approval.

"Excellent, then we will begin once you are fully recuperated. Kabuto! See to that Sasuke-kun gets to his room." A white bespectacled ninja with a cunning glint in his eyes entered the room and beckoned the young Uchiha to follow him. Once the pair was out of earshot, Orochimaru started laughing; a truly sinister laughter that brought chills to anyone who listened, a laugh that was tainted with greed and bloodlust.

Dark eyes glinted with maliciousness as Orochimaru rested his chin on his clasped hands.

"Soon, soon I will take over the boy's body and with the Sharingan; I will be able to learn every single jutsu that exists on the face of this earth!"

§

"Hurry up! We need those cloths soon, and see to it that you rid the fabrics of the bloodstains properly!" Shizune glared at the pink haired kunoichi, who suddenly erupted in blatant anger.

"I AM HERE TO STUDY THE WAYS OF THE MEDIC NINS AND THIS IS WHAT YOU ASK ME TO DO?! SCRUBBING BLOODSTAINS OUT OF MEDICAL FABRICS!! I DESERVE BETTER!!!" Sakura flushed a dark red with the thrum of anger throbbing in her veins; Shizune merely raised an eyebrow and answered with a deadly calm.

"You lost the right for decent treatment the moment you stabbed Naruto in the heart, wench. Get back to work or you will lose the right to even study with the merest of Medical Nin." Shizune was willing to give the girl a slight leeway, but Sakura, being Sakura; fumed, took the offer and threw it back into Shizune's face.

"I QUIT! THIS IS DOING ME NO GOOD AND I REFUSE TO BE TREATED LIKE A PIECE OF SHIT!" Shizune laughed cruelly and regarded the pink haired girl with dangerously narrowed dark eyes.

"So it is not alright for you to be treated like a piece of shit but it was okay for Naruto to be treated like one?" The Medic Nin was inwardly trembling with rage while the ignorant kunoichi turned her nose upon that remark.

"Naruto is nothing but a demon, and he deserves nothing more." At that sentence, Shizune snapped.

"Get out, you bitch. I refuse to mentor you any further. You are filth, and a worthless piece of shit. You are not even worthy to be called the scum under Naruto's shoe. Get out! I don't want to see your ugly face." By this time, Sakura was red in the face because she was angry at being called ugly.

"Fine, it's not like you are a good teacher anyways!" Then Sakura stalked out, still arrogant and ignorant about her faults and mistakes. Shizune shook her head in exasperation and anger; the girl was hopeless.

§

Sakura clenched her fists and fumed.

_How dare that useless little Medic Nin belittle her? Calling her ugly, now who's ugly? _

The pink haired kunoichi trembled with rage as Shizune's words replayed in her mind. Fine, be that way, with her intelligence, she could study by herself and become a Master of the Medical Arts.

_I'll get revenge for those blasphemous words that she had uttered!! _

Unknown to her, the dark killing intent that she was emitting was attracting someone's attention as she ventured further into the forest after she left Konoha through the Great Gate.

§

Yakushi Kabuto was trying to infiltrate Konoha to get some information but to his immense surprise and shock, he found that he could not get into the Leaf Village. As he neared the Great Gates and was about to enter it, he found himself back where he started: in the forest just outside the Great Gates. As he was about to leave to report this curious occurrence to Orochimaru, a spike in chakra and a dark killing intent mixed with hate caught his attention.

_Interesting…_

As he neared the aura, he realized that he could use the person who was blinded with hate. At the clearing of the greenery, Kabuto saw Haruno Sakura muttering to herself in the middle of the forest and she looked quite angry.

"Good day, Haruno-san, who has made you this angry?" Kabuto was careful to keep up with his polite and friendly façade. When the chit turned around, she looked suspicious and the girl reached for her kunai. Kabuto raised his unarmed hands as a sign of peace; the girl did not attack but did not remove her hand from her kunai.

"So what happened?" To her surprise, Sakura actually started talking to the other shinobi. The older male listened while Sakura talk for a while, for the sake of gathering information. This continued for some time until he heard her say.

"Then she kicked me out and refused to teach me the ways of the Medics." Kabuto has seen Sakura's excellent chakra control and smirked inwardly. One man's trash was another man's treasure and sure, he could manipulate her hate and turn her against Konoha.

"You want to learn how to become a Medic Nin?" Kabuto asked, making it sound like a polite question without any motives behind it. Sakura nodded and sighed.

"But I guess there is no more chance at that." Kabuto smirked inwardly once again while keeping the friendly exterior.

"Why not?"

"Because those bitches at Konoha refuse to teach me!" Anger returned to Sakura as she played right into Kabuto's hands. The killing intent returned and Kabuto forced himself to keep his concerned façade.

"Well, I am a Medic Nin and I can teach you. How about you ally yourself with me and Orochimaru-sama?" Sakura widened her eyes and reached for her kunai again but Kabuto was faster with his words.

"Then this way, you could learn to become a great Medic Nin and at the same time, be with Sasuke-san." At the mention of Sasuke, Sakura's apprehension dropped and she hesitated, pondering on the option. Kabuto offer his hand.

"I mean, the people in Konoha don't know how to appreciate you but under Orochimaru-sama's command, you will be respected and maybe then, Sasuke-san might even pay attention to you." It was at that point where the bait of Sasuke worked when she nodded and gave Kabuto an arrogant smile.

"Alright, I'll come with you and then I'll show those bitches what they have let slip under their ugly noses." Sakura placed her hand into the bigger, slender hand of Kabuto and then they quickstepped to Orochimaru's lair. Smirking sinisterly, Kabuto congratulated himself on a job well done.

It was at that moment when Sakura shook hands with Kabuto that a dark tendril crept around her soul and entwined itself around the shining ball of chakra.

§

"50 laps around the training ground!" Ryuu's pleasant voice rang out clearly in the early hours of the morning. So far everyone have been holding up pretty well, even the lazy Shikamaru. After an hour running, the Dragon Lady asked them to slow down and then when the eight had come to a stop and had a good rest and meal, Ryuu tested them.

"Alright, everyone, now I will be testing you to see where your standards are, so that I can modify the teaching to do its best job." The octet nodded and Ryuu beckoned Naruto to start first.

"Naruto, do the jutsu that you are most familiar with." Naruto nodded and clasped his hands in a seal.

"Kage no Bunshin!" The training ground suddenly was filled with perfect shadow clones of Naruto. Ryuu raised an eyebrow, impressed while the rest of the octet gaped, except Gaara and Shino, who had their usually expressionless faces on. Then a light dawned on Ryuu and she smirked while congratulating her student on the display of his extreme chakra reserves.

"Hinata and Neji, pure taijutsu." The pair nodded and immediately assumed a fighting stance. Neji suddenly attacked with a punch aimed for the midriff and Hinata unsurprisingly blocked it with relative ease. Then the girl retaliated with a roundhouse kick that was intercepted with an arm that grabbed her leg, in an attempt to twist it and bring her down. Hinata pushed herself upwards with her arms and twisted her body to gain momentum and also try to hit Neji in the face with the other. This sparring was continued for another five minutes before Ryuu stopped them.

"Enough, okay. Shikamaru, finish the Sudoku as fast as you can." Shikamaru rolled his eyes and Ryuu grinned, soon enough, after five minutes, the genius finished the twenty five by twenty five puzzle.

"Excellent. So it means that we have to work on the physical side of things." The Nara genius groaned but conceded. Lee was asked to try and produce a clone, and failed to produce more than four. Downcast, Lee remained sadly silent and Ryuu noticed.

"Don't' worry, once we solve the chakra path problem, you will be able to use ninjutsus and genjutsus; granted, you will not be a specialist in either of these areas but you will be able to hold your own against some powerful shinobis." Lee nodded, hope returning into the dark eyes.

"Shino, show me what these bugs can do." The silent boy nodded and then he created a bug clone of him, devoured a tree trunk in a matter of seconds and sucked a little chakra out of Ryuu as she found a few on her palm. Nodding, Ryuu voiced her approval.

"Ingenious; your Kekkei Genkai is quite interesting." Shino blushed and Ryuu smiled. Then she caught Gaara's emerald gaze and held it while she delved deep into his mind's recesses as she placed her finger onto his forehead.

_: Ichibi no Shukaku, answer the call of the Dragon Sovereign. : _

_: Whatisityouwantwithme: _

Under the incoherency of the Shukaku laid an aura of tiredness and Ryuu could not help herself but to feel pity for the Demon.

_: Ichi, don't you remember me:_

_: Whoareyou: _

_: Don't you remember Ryuu: _

_: Ryuu… Ryuu: _

_: Yes, Ichi. It's Ryuu. : _

_: LetmeoutRyuupleaseIamsomiserableherepleaseletmeout. : _

_: Ichi, I can't let you out. :_

_: Why? Whycan'tyouletmeout: _

_: Someone has imprisoned you into a Jinchuriki and to free you could mean that your host would be killed. : _

_: ButIdon'twantanybodytobehurt… : _

A bright light shone within the deep recesses of Gaara's mind and then a young boy of ten with curly red locks and sky blue eyes sparkling with tears. Ryuu walked towards the young manifestation of the Shukaku.

_: Ichi, you have been a bad boy. Because you want to come out so badly, your host cannot sleep in peace in fear that you would devour his mind and take over. : _

_: Ryuu-onee-san, I am very sorry. : _

_: Promise that you will come out only when I visit or when Gaara allows you to come out and you have to return to the deep recesses if asked. You understand me? Because if you break those rules, I will have to punish you. : _

_: Hai, Ryuu-sama. :_

_: Be patient, one day, I will help you get out of this prison. :_

_: Okay: _The Shukaku beamed and Ryuu felt her heart melt at the adorableness.

_: So would you like to meet Gaara: _

_: Yes: _

_: Gaara, you can come out now. : _

On the outside, Gaara and Ryuu seemed to be locked in a trance as they stared into each other's eyes without blinking, the rest of the octet was getting nervous but Naruto reassured the team.

"Hey, don't need to worry. Shishou will be fine and so will be Gaara. She's a Goddess, after all." Then the tension in the air dissipated as the octet made sense out of the blonde kit's words.

_: Where am I: _

_: You are in the deepest depths of your own mind. : _

_: Gaara-nii-san! I am so sorry! I didn't mean to hurt you: _Ichi had bounded up and hugged Gaara tightly around his waist, crying for the damage that he had done. Gaara was shocked but his usually diamond hard eyes softened at the sincere apology.

_: This is Ichi, the Ichibi no Shukaku. It wasn't his fault that he was imprisoned in you, as a Demon, he had loved his freedom and he had never really hurt anyone or anything willingly. The only reason why he fought for the control of your mind was because he wanted to be free and Ichi did not know the extent of the damage he could potentially cause. The demented manifestation of the Shukaku when you call upon its power is a mix of your hate, your mild psychosis and his thirst for freedom, which is why you would not have to suffer sleepless nights anymore because Ichi promised to only come out when I visit or when you call upon his assistance. : _

The young demonic manifestation nodded sincerely and Gaara nodded and petted Ichi's head awkwardly. Ichi gave Gaara a brilliant smile and Ryuu chuckled.

_: Al__l__ right, listen up both of you. Do both of you want to be more powerful and more at ease with each other: _Both boys nodded and Ichi reached out to hold Gaara's hand, who was surprised but let the little Demon did as it liked.

_: I can merge a certain percentage of each of you into the other, so both of you co-exist. Ichi, you can come out and play sometimes and Gaara, your powers will definitely increase substantially. So does the deal work for both of you: _Gaara and Ichi looked at each other and then answered in a voice.

"Yes." Gaara whispered and then fell limp in Ryuu's arms. The rest of the octet suddenly panicked, especially Naruto.

"Wake him up! He cannot sleep! The Shukaku will eat his brain away!"

"Quiet, let him sleep." Ryuu silence the Kitsune with a pointed glance, but Naruto did not heed her.

"He cannot!"

"Quiet." This time, the pointed glance became a pointed glare, the seven immediately quieted down and Ryuu sighed.

"I took care of the insomnia, so it's alright for Gaara to sleep now and Naruto," Naruto had his head bowed, "thank you for caring for Gaara, he will appreciate it. And that goes for the rest of you, now take a rest. Be back in half an hour." Ryuu and Gaara disappeared in a vortex of black and silver chakra. The seven remained where they were and it was at the moment that they realized something very important about their situation.

She was their Shishou and they would do well to work with her. Without much fuss.

§

"Haruka," green eyes blinked and then the woman smiled. Kazuma Arashi stood in her door way.

"Rashi, what are you doing here?" Cerulean orbs twinkled with mischief as the handsome deity wrapped his arms around the striking black haired woman.

"Can't I drop by and give my gorgeous wife a kiss?" Haruka chuckled, a melodious sound and according to Arashi, one of the most beautiful sounds in the world. The woman only rolled her eyes and Arashi leaned in to kiss the cherry red lips. Uzumaki Haruka was a Dragon Warrior, handpicked by Ryuu after her death which was caused by battling Kyuubi. Haruka was one of the best ANBU operatives in Konoha during her time and had sacrificed herself to allow her fellow teammates to escape, Fujiyama Kenji had a wife and two children at home and he was the sole breadwinner of the family and Nara Juko was about to be married with his childhood sweetheart.

Both Arashi and Haruka were saddened to leave their son behind but it was for the best at that time. However, they did not realize the damage that they would soon see on their son.

§

Kakashi groaned as he felt a lithe _male_ body pressed against his feverish one. Callused hands ran down teasingly down his sides and all the blood rushed southwards. Then the mysterious young man arched upwards, silky strands of blonde hair caressed his stomach and chest, and stopped when his lips were against Kakashi's ear.

"Kashi, do you want me to stop?" The warm breath filled with sensuality caused the silver haired Jounin to shiver, not unpleasantly. Kakashi moaned and shook his head wordlessly. Then metallic cerulean with silver flecks opened and Kakashi found himself drowning in those magnificent pools of desire and love.

"Good, because I would have hated to." The dancing blue eyes then closed and the mysterious young man latched his petal soft lips onto the Jounin's sensitive neck and sucked. Hard.

"Uh…" Kakashi groaned at the pulses of electricity that ran through his body like fire, and then a strong hand sneaked down into his shorts and grabbed his hard manhood. The moment the hand started stroking; Kakashi was lost as his eyes rolled into his head from all the pleasure that bordered unbearable.

"Fuck," Kakashi hissed and the young man smiled, revealing slightly elongated canines that made him even sexier.

"That's the whole idea." The young man whispered against his neck and the Jounin whimpered when a thumb teased his slit and coated his cock with his own pre-cum. Then the sinful mouth abandoned his neck, causing Kakashi to whimper at the loss, and returned to his ear.

"You are so fucking hot like that, writhing and moaning like a wanton slut." The silky sensuous voice rolled of his bed partner's tongue like sinful chocolate and Kakashi moaned as the words brought him closer to his peak.

"You like it when I talk dirty huh?" The pleasured man only answered with a moan, the pleasuring young man's smirk only grew more predatory as he increased the pace of the stroking. Now Kakashi was hard-pressed not to cum.

"Shit! Ah! I am… gonna cum!" Desire sparkled with mischievousness as the young man smirked and whispered heatedly into Kakashi's ear.

"Then cum." With an expert flick of his wrist, Kakashi arched off the bed and released with blinding pleasure, pearly strands of ejaculate coating the other's hand as it milked him. Kakashi then melted bonelessly into bed, exhausted but satiated. Blue eyes met his mismatched ones as the sinful voice whispered.

"_I love you, Kakashi." _

Kakashi bolted off the bed with an alarming suddenness, drenched in sweat and cum but he could not care less because there was only one word on his mind and his mouth.

"Mate."

§

A/N: THANK YOU ALL MY REVIEWERS!!! It's really good to see that my story is really well-liked :) Anyways, is it really that tiring to write a review: pouts : only if those story alerts could come with a review too! I LIVE ON REVIEWS LIKE A CHOCOHOLIC DOES ON CHOCOLATES! PLEASE REVIEW!!! Gimme some love plz?

Hint: It might hurry the updates and increase the amount of smut… : winks :

Love and until next update,

Kage Ryuu Tenshi


	4. IV: Second Chances and a Seal

**Eight Dragons and a Fox**

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Naruto was banished after failing to retrieve Sasuke. After a mysterious woman makes a deal with Tsunade, the Kitsune becomes her one of her eight students and under her tutelage; Naruto learns the Forgotten Arts and merges with the Kyuubi. KakaNaru. Yaoi

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**Disclaimer: **Nothing belongs to me except Ryuu. Nuff Said. 

**Dedicated to: **All those awesome people who reviewed: **_mimiru-motomia, xXxLuna-the-ChosenxXx, stringer13, KunochiDreamer, D-Chan3, Carcas, Halo666, where'smycookie, Serpentine.Serenity, Chiyoko-chan, Starlit, RaitenKitsune, SlashnYaoi, genbo, Azn-cool-chan, xBunni, Beloved Shadow of Light, Jaded.Obsidian, Hiyami, whitereflection17, sapphireplusle, Xi3, Sprig, I'm a PureEvil, nato90, Sharem, Sharingan-hater86, KawaiiKoneko89, Daughter of Life And Death, ScathingSarcasm, Crimson Aries, keruiki, AngelofContemplation, shuichi'sgirl, shobe09, LikeYourWork, XxKitsunedxX, Lynn, SasuNaruFox, blackhole, PreternaturalC, Ebony Cassandra selene Riddle and Cassie. _**You people are the epitome of awesome-ness!!! (And I hope to add more people to that list)

**Warning: **Shounen-Ai. BL. Yaoi. If you hate these stuff and you're still reading this after that summary warning, you are an idiot.

**

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Chapter IV: Second Chances and a Seal

_**-**_** Nothing destroys authority so much as the unequal and untimely interchange of power, pressed too far and relaxed too much **_Francis Bacon_

§

"Uchiha Sasuke, it was your thirst for power, no matter how dark or evil, that drove you to Orochimaru. If you haven't fled to that lousy excuse for a Sannin, then you could have been of my Chosen, the ones who will carry the Dragon Legacy. But alas, you just couldn't wait for yourself to gain power. You would have made one fine disciple."

Sasuke stared at the visage of beauty with ill-concealed surprise.

"What?"

"With those powers you will gain from Orochimaru, you will never defeat your brother. Instead of being stronger, you will only turn into another version of Itachi, the same damned and twisted entity."

Now Sasuke was knocked quite out of balance, this lady knew everything about him and he had not even met her before! Attempting to gather some confidence and rebuild his mask, Sasuke tried to maintain his emotionless front before asking, "Who are you and what are you doing in my head?"

The ethereally beautiful woman merely raised an eyebrow and answered with something akin to disappointment.

"Haven't you heard of the Ryuukotsusei?"

The legendary Dragon Demi-Goddess who ruled the Demonic Realms. Shit. He could have gotten to be a disciple of a Celestial Being but he fucked up when he chose to be mentored by Orochimaru. Silver-grey eyes glowed knowingly as Ryuu stared haughtily at the Uchiha.

_So this is how it really feels to be belittled…_

"Who are your students?" Sasuke wanted to know more, to see who were the ones who actually managed to capture the attention of a Goddess.

"You only need to know one, Uzumaki Naruto." At the mention of the name, Sasuke gritted his teeth and clenched his fists in anger. It was always the blonde dobe who managed to snag the best teachers and it was always him who would awe the others with his amazing improving and improvising. Ryuu shook her head inwardly, feeling slightly sorry for the misled youth and setting her merciless silver gaze on the Uchiha, she asked, "How about you and I make a deal?"

§

"Orochimaru-sama." The snake-like villain turned around and saw Kabuto, his loyal right hand man, but he was surprised when his gaze was met with the sight of a pink-haired kunoichi. The trio was in Orochimaru's private lair and despite her previous determination, Sakura found herself feeling nervous.

"May I know who you are?" The androgynous voice of the traitorous Sannin caressed the power-hungry and vengeful kunoichi.

"Haruno Sakura at your service." Sakura bowed low and Orochimaru smirked.

"Orochimaru-sama, Sakura-chan is the ex-comrade of both Sasuke and Uzumaki Naruto. She has an affinity with Medical ninjutsu and she is willing to serve you."

"Tell me, why do you want to learn from me?"

"I have enough of the wrenched defending of Naruto that is going on in the village, he's not fit to be even called a mere human, he's a monster who destroyed my life and I want to help you to defeat him. I will do whatever it takes." The Snake Sannin liked the way that dark tendril was curling around her chakra core, so he conceded.

"All right, you may serve me. Kabuto, you just got yourself a new apprentice. Make sure that she turns out with that affinity you just told me about." Kabuto shared a smirk with Orochimaru before bowing.

"Arigatou, Orochimaru-sama." As the girl turned to leave, Orochimaru's neck suddenly stretched and he embedded his fangs into the pink kunoichi's slender neck. Sakura screamed as a dark light shone around the bite-mark, and when Orochimaru released his hold, a Curse Seal that resembled a black sakura flower stood out starkly against the girl's pale skin. Then Sakura laughed evilly as the power surge she was experiencing brought on a physical high.

After a manifestation of a Level 1 curse seal, Orochimaru waved his hand and an unconscious Sakura was carried into the medical room by Kabuto to start her medical training, Orochimaru chuckled.

"Kukuku, Tsunade, you will have no idea what will hit you and your _precious_ Konoha…"

§

Orochimaru would live to provide her with some entertainment and not to mention, a good source of obstacles that will put her disciples to the test. Besides, that snake-like bastard was going to die soon; who was she to disrupt what Lady Fate had for that power-hungry fairy?

Right now, Ryuu was facing Naruto and the young teenager had his face screwed up in concentration. Then the blonde slammed his hand down into the blood-drawn scroll. A gust of wind, followed by a pop, revealed a wriggling tadpole. Ryuu rolled her eyes and decided that her student deserved a much needed kick in the rear.

"Channel your chakra and thoughts solely into that scroll, aim for the biggest because your chakra limit allows it! You can do better than this! Prove to me that you're worth the attention and knowledge that I am willing to offer! Show me what you can do!" Then Naruto whipped around and met her unyielding silver gaze with a cerulean gaze that had an intensity and determination that should be banned.

_Now there is the gaze I want on every single one of my students…_

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" Naruto shouted and slammed his palm into the blood-drawn scroll circle again but this time, a swirl of wind blew out of the scroll and a deafening thump could be heard throughout the forest that surrounded the training ground.

"Who had the guts to call on Gamabunta-sama?" The toad's voice boomed and Naruto shouted and waved frantically to get the towering amphibian's attention.

"Hey! Toad! I did!" The Head of the Frog Clan looked down and released a booming laugh, Naruto pouted and Ryuu chuckled.

"I did it! Damn it! I did it!" At his insistence, Gamabunta only laughed harder, his pipe perched precariously on his lips. Ryuu shook her head at the gigantic frog's arrogance. _Still the same toad…_

"You expect me to believe that you, a darn squirt, actually had the chakra and concentration to summon me? Gamabunta-sama, the strongest of all?" Naruto only wrinkled his nose and nodded, Ryuu could not bear to watch any longer before bursting into uncharacteristic laughter.

"Gama, he did summon you." The enormous toad widened at the familiar chakra signature and turned around. Upon seeing Ryuu, he bowed respectfully.

"Ryuu-sama, it's a pleasure to see you again." Ryuu nodded and waved, chuckled.

"That darn squirt, as you so kindly put it, actually did summon you, oh Gamabunta-sama, the strongest of all." Ryuu chuckled again as the toad actually blushed. Naruto then laughed and went.

"YOSH!"

"You're an interesting kid alright; I grant you the right to summon me and my brethren to aid you in your battles." Naruto nodded solemnly and then sent the large toad a dazzling smile. Gamabunta laughed his booming laugh and disappeared in a puff of smoke. Ryuu then went up to Naruto to ruffle his blonde spikes.

"Excellent job, usually it would take weeks or months for someone else to learn but that was excellent." To Ryuu's amazement, Naruto actually blushed and turned silent, as if unsure of how to react to that praise. The Dragoness smiled sadly at her charge, realizing that the young Jinchuuriki had not been praised a lot, if at all. And she was determined to change that small fact.

"If someone gives you praise, it's custom to say thank you." Naruto looked into her silver gaze with his pure cerulean eyes and smiled softly. Ryuu suddenly realize that her young kit would be a heartbreaker once he grew up.

"Thank you," he whispered, and Ryuu nodded.

"Right, let's go for Ramen now." At the mention of his favourite food, Naruto whooped and raced back to Castle; Ryuu shook her head with amusement and vanished in a vortex of wind.

§

After lunch, the whole group gathered at the training ground and all of them, even Gaara, were curious about what Ryuu had in store for them today. In a whirl of silver and black chakra, the Dragoness appeared with a bunch of scrolls hovering besides her. Smiling at her students, Ryuu gestured for them to sit on the chairs that she conjured.

"What are the three basic categories of attacks?"

Naruto answered it. "Ninjutsu. Genjutsu and Taijutsu."

Ryuu nodded. "Explain one of the attack types, Ino."

"'Genjutsu techniques are illusionary techniques that cause the opponent to hallucinate in all five of the senses. They are great to use when you are trying to escape or confuse the opposition, allowing you to escape or attack. However, Genjutsu can be rendered useless if used on an opponent who is skilled in Doujutsu or someone capable of dispelling the technique. Usually, a large understanding of how the human mind works will increase your Genjutsu techniques' to the point were they're lethal."

Ryuu smiled softly and nodded. "Excellent." The blonde girl blushed prettily. _Advanced…_

"Neji?"

**"**Ninjutsu is the art of molding chakra via handseals, causing your technique to form. Performing Ninjutsu techniques require full concentration and if interrupted, will misfire. It only takes a few seconds to successfully execute a Ninjutsu technique; however some can take much longer and is probably the most used attack type out of the three classifications."

Ryuu nodded; another tensai. "Lee?"

"Taijutsu is the hand to hand combat. There are no hand seals as chakra is focused throughout the entire body. Taijutsu attacks deal from a variety of slow to fast movements and vary depending on the amount of chakra used and style. There are ways to increase the amount chakra circulating your body, for example; the Eight Celestial Gates that."

"Besides those three categories of attacks, I am going to introduce Doujutsu, Kinjutsu, Kenjutsu and Hijutsu once all of you have proven to me that you will be able to handle the knowledge responsibly. All right, those basic three attack types were quite general, but enough for the time being. For the past week, you've been here; I've taken the liberty in assessing your levels. I am going to split the eight of you into different levels for different attack types."

"For Genjutsu; beginners include Lee, Gaara and Naruto; intermediates are Shino, Neji and Hinata; and the advanced are Shikamaru, and Ino." To her surprise, the blonde Yamanaka girl protested.

"Shishou, I can't be advanced in Genjutsu!"

Ryuu chuckled. "You know more than you think, Ino and I think you ought to trust my decisions." Ryuu was amused when the girl blushed and nodded.

"Taijutsu. Beginners are Ino, Shikamaru and Gaara; intermediates are Shino, Hinata and Neji; and the advanced are Naruto and Lee." Neji looked ready to protest but he successfully kept his mouth shut while Naruto was surprised.

"Ninjutsu. Beginners include Ino and Lee; intermediates are the rest except Naruto and Gaara. No one is at the advanced level just yet. Due to their special conditions, Naruto and Gaara will be having separate lessons with me."

"Whoever has their doubts can voice it now and I will clear it up for you." To no one's surprise, Neji raised his hand.

"Shishou, with the Byakugan, shouldn't Hinata and I be advanced in Genjutsu?" Ryuu did not blame the young shinobi for asking, in fact, she was glad that he had picked up on that fact.

"Neji-kun, granted that having the Byakugan means being able to see through the Genjutsu but I don't think you and Hinata actually _understand_ the concept behind genjutsu and without a good, solid foundation, how would you know that what surrounding you is actually a genjutsu at work? Both Shikamaru and Ino have a great understanding of the human mind, therefore they are eligible for the advanced level, but not to worry, you will soon be there as well." After the explanation, Neji found himself understanding and thankful for the fact that he had such luck to be apprenticed under a teacher like Ryuu. Naruto was next with a question.

"Ano, Shishou, why am I advanced in Taijutsu?"

"You have amazingly large chakra capacities due to the Kyuubi and I have a method that would allow you to learn a jutsu with a speed faster than most and your flexibility allows you to absorb the taijutsus that we will be learning. But most importantly, it was your unpredictability that made me put you in the Advanced Level Taijutsu because that innate unpredictability which most Shinobis strive for a lifetime to achieve." Neji and Gaara could not help but to feel jealous.

"For the rest of you, by the time I am done with you, you will be powerful enough to hold your hold against a Sannin if you wish and do remember that no one will be favored, everyone will be treated the same." The octet nodded solemnly and Ryuu smiled softly. She liked her students but Ryuu knew, deep down, that she must make sure that her octet realized that she was a Goddess, not a very powerful human being. But that would come later; right now, the training was by far most important thing on her long list of priorities.

"As you can see, these Ninjutsu and Genjutsu scrolls beside me are the scrolls that you will need to complete before you can deem yourself even remotely ready for your enemies. There are three piles and once you have finished and completed every single jutsu in that pile of scrolls, you can move on to the next level. For the Beginners, you shall start with the pile on the left only, Intermediates, two piles including the beginners and Advanced, you have to take all of the three piles." Ryuu smiled inwardly when she saw the determined facial expressions that could be seen on all of her students.

"These scrolls are locked with a sealing jutsu of mine, so don't even bother trying to break it. The particular scroll you are working on has to be with you at all times, once you are done with a jutsu, the scroll will register it automatically and if you are done with the whole scroll, the next scroll in line will automatically be unsealed for you. As your Shishou, I am obligated to assist you; however I must warn you, that all your efforts are and will be your own, and I will only help you if I deem it necessary. But I don't mind you asking any questions at all, for being a fool for a minute beats being ignorant for life. All right, after each week, each of you will have a personal audience with me and that is when I will measure your jutsu progress, chakra, physical changes and mental health." Her students nodded, completely attentive.

"There is one more issue I want to deal with, and that is failure." Almost all of her students stiffened at the mention of that word of taboo. The Dragoness rolled her eyes, the members of the older generation were fools.

"From my perspective, failure is inevitable and plentiful. You cannot expect yourself to hit the mark each time you try something new; the world just does not work like that. To me, failure is a blessing in disguise. Yes, you might feel bad about yourself but at the end of the day, a failure enables you to see what you were previously blind to, but most importantly, a failure is a sign that you have tried to surpass yourself. But what I don't need are excuses, if you fail that means you _failed_. I don't want _any_ excuses because there are millions of reasons why _you_ failed, and _your_ failure is not attributed to _any_ foreign influences. You fail, _you _deal with it and only if you actively seek to correct your failure, you remain a failure. It's hard for anyone to fail but it's worse to have never tried to succeed." Suddenly, Hinata rushed forward and hugged Ryuu tightly in the middle.

"Arigatou, Shishou… Arigatou." The pale eyed girl sniffed and Ryuu patted her on the head before the Hyuuga recollected herself and Ryuu resumed back to business.

"Therefore I have only one piece of advice: **w****hen in doubt, make a fool of yourself. There is a microscopically thin line between being brilliantly creative and acting like the most gigantic idiot on earth. So what the hell, take that damned leap and see for yourself what lies on the other side.**I don't care how you do it or what you do with it; all I care is that at the end of the day, you learn_ something_.**"** Upon hearing this, Naruto and Lee cheered and even Gaara and Neji cracked a reluctant smile, lighting up both of their handsome faces flatteringly.

Ryuu smiled wryly; it seemed like teaching was not so bad after all despite what her exasperated father used to say about her when she started apprenticing under him…

"Now, the scrolls that you need are already in your private rooms. I trust you to work hard and don't let me catch you lazing around when you have some studying to do." Ryuu gave her students a smirk and a few of the more daring ones returned it.

"Hai, Shishou!"

§

Tsunade ran a hand through her blonde locks as she read the most recent letter from the Dragon; the pair had been running a correspondence with each other to keep the other updated on the events happening on either side.

_Tsunade-hime,_

_The eight are doing rather well, although I do question Hinata's mental health__ it seems to me that the little Hyuuga went through some psychological abuse as she still recoils from authority figures. However, she seems to be improving as she is now willing to take the initiative to ask questions or start conversations, albeit hesitantly… _Damn you, Hiashi, Tsunade thought viciously. _You __will__ be pleased to know that Naruto is making tremendous progress__ it seems like his chakra capacity has increased again, this time, making his chakra reading a 2548. _

_One more thing: Hinata has shown an affinity for Healing due to her adept chakra control, so I will ask you for a favour: Do you trust me enough to pass down your most sacrosanct jutsus to this young girl? I know that you have not chosen an official heir to your technique and I hereby recommend Hinata to take that place. When she returns after two more years, you shall see for yourself. Take care. _

_R. _

Tsunade widened her eyes, a potential disciple recommended by Ryuu? This, she must see. Grabbing her brush, the Godaime penned her reply. Then she handed her letter to the minute dragonling that bit the envelope gingerly and disappeared. Smirking, she turned to the glass window and sighed happily.

_Oh dearest Councilmen, you will get the shock of your life when seven of the children you retarded and insipient idiots deemed __**useless and a nuisance**_… _and I'll get the laugh of my life…_

§

Kakashi was a blur as he continuously attacked his opponent, Gekko Hayate, a fellow Jounin whose skill could be said to be par with Kakashi himself. A katana swung upwards in a crescent arc and the silver-haired Jounin clashed with the formidable swordsman with a fang-like blade that glowed white with pulsating chakra. The fight went on for another two hours before both Jounins were sprawled on the training area's ground, exhausted.

"Hey, Kakashi, that was one heck of a good workout. I haven't been this tired for ages, and that just showed me how rusty I am getting." The master swordsman chuckled tiredly and Kakashi merely went, "Hn," as he sat up slowly. Over the duration of two months, Kakashi still had not gotten around to defeating Konoha's best swordsman but a phrase regularly used by his Sensei, the Yondaime of Konoha, flashed in his mind.

_It is low aiming, not failure, that is a crime…_

"I'll see you tomorrow morning?" Kakashi inquired politely and the other Jounin nodded cheerfully.

"Sure, thanks for today's duel. It was refreshing." Hayate nodded and was about to make his way back before hearing something totally unexpected:

"You're welcome and I thank you too." Then the infamous Copy-Cat Nin vanished, leaving the other to gape at the new revelation. Hayate smiled wryly and chuckled.

_Kakashi certainly was not what he made himself look like…_

§

A year had passed and the octet had passed the Intermediate Level with flying colours. Ryuu knew immediately after Ino's last Intermediate scroll signaled a completion. She summoned her students into the Hall of the Castle. Now a year older, her octet was growing up rather nicely.

"Ohayo, Shishou. What's up?" Bronzed and lithe, Naruto grew up to be a heartbreaker with his tousled, flaxen locks and startlingly intense azure orbs. The past year had did some calming to the previously easily overexcited youngster, now the blonde was a formidable opponent whose unpredictability gave him a huge advantage.

"Shut up, Naruto, Shishou called us here, of course there is something she wants to tell us." Yamanaka Ino matured into a curvaceous beauty whose sharp tongue matched her vicious genjutsu techniques, with silky blonde hair that reached her rear and large, almond shaped dark eyes.

"Ino-chan, I suggest we all pay attention to Shishou." The moment the duo heard the soft voice, the irate pair nodded sheepishly. Hinata was, by far, the one whose change Ryuu was most pleased with. Elegant with beauty, the Hyuuga girl developed into a noticeably attractive young lady with lustrous raven locks that reached mid-back that was coupled with contrasting pale lavender orbs. Over the past year, the previously meek girl with a stutter had grown into a slightly confident and levelheaded teenager.

Neji and Gaara shared a pained look. The prodigious Hyuuga boy and the Shukaku vessel both grew up to be handsome individuals; Neji was strikingly handsome with his unique coloring and aristocratic looks while Gaara was stunning with his vividly dark auburn hair and shocking emerald orbs.

"Tch… so troublesome…" Ryuu chuckled at the Nara genius, granted Shikamaru was not that lazy anymore, but there was still an occasional peek of that infamous lazy streak. The young boy was quite fine-looking with spiky dark hair that was secured in a pony-tail and dark eyes that had an intelligent glint, that was coupled with a casual elegance he had in his lazy gestures.

Shino and Lee remained silent, unwilling to participate in such immature nonsense. The bug lover matured quite nicely too with his lean, muscular built and chiseled facial features while the Taijutsu expert toned down on his "spirit of youth" tirades and the girls had beaten a fashion sense into him. Ryuu sighed and the octet was immediately silenced.

"All of you have passed the Intermediate Level and I am very proud of you for memorizing and to be able to perform over ten thousand jutsus that ranges from a mere E-rank to a mid B-rank. Did anyone manage to open an Advanced scroll?" There were no nods and Ryuu smiled.

"That is because I locked them, it is now the _real_ training starts." All eight of the group gave their Shishou identical looks of barely concealed excitement and intrigue.

"Hontou, Shishou?"

"Yes, from now on, every one of you will have private sessions with me. For the next two years, I will be even harsher because I am here with only two reasons which are to push you to your limits and to enable you achieve the highest possible level of power. I think it's now time to reveal why I actually took the eight of you in." Naruto looked away but that did not go unnoticed by his friends.

"Everyone here knows about the Kyuubi?" Ryuu receive eight simultaneous nods.

"I was his lover." Five simultaneous gasps besides Shikamaru, Gaara and Shino, rang out.

"I didn't stop him from rampaging Konoha and when he was finally defeated, I took a look around at his course of destruction and I swore to make things right again, to allow Konoha its former peace. Then my gaze landed on Naruto, and never in my long life have I seen such cruelty. Being shunned or beaten for being the jail of one of the strongest demonic presences ever to grace the land when he should be honored as a hero. Then someone approached me with a way to redeem myself and cleanse my guilt, that I should teach Naruto what he has to know in order to fulfill his Hokage dream. I was supposed to only teach him but as Lady Fate decreed it, the seven of you showed up and I decided that Naruto could use some important friends and allies. I had to redeem Kyuubi from his sins because… I have to, as someone who could have stopped him and as someone who loved him." Silence reigned in the hall as the Dragoness told her tale with a melancholy-laced voice.

"As time passed, I grew to care for each of you like I would for my own children, so I have decided to teach all of you my own techniques." One by one, starting with Neji, the octet dropped onto their knees and bowed.

"We will honored, Shishou." Ryuu smiled softly and nodded, knowing that her Chosen Eight will not disappoint her.

"Then let the _training _begin."

§

Sure enough, the octet's lives just became harder as Ryuu mercilessly pounded techniques into them and every single one of them rose early and slept like a baby every single day. Ryuu was kept busy by her students but the Dragoness was enjoying every minute of the teaching and so far, Naruto's method of learning was most interesting.

_: Flashback :_

"Naruto, today we are going to try a new method of learning jutsus." The blonde Kitsune gave his teacher a small nod and started to listen carefully. One thing that made Ryuu different from the Jounin senseis was her way of looking at things that boggled normal minds.

"We are going to make use of your Tajuu Kage Bunshin."

Naruto raised an eyebrow and asked blatantly, "Why?"

"We have many jutsus and so little time, so that's how we're going to do this in a short amount of time."

Naruto nodded and asked again, "So what's the technique?" Ryuu chuckled and proceeded to explain.

"You already know that the distinction between regular and shadow clones is that you make an actual body rather than an illusion."

The blonde nodded. "So?"

"I've seen you use it rather constantly but you don't really notice it. Although I don't use Kage Bunshin, I know the effect it has on the user. When you use the shadow clone technique, you instruct your clones to do something that a normal person can do, unlike a normal illusionary clone. However, what you failed to notice is that when you release the jutsu, any experience and knowledge gained by the clones will transfer back to the original body."

Naruto scrunched up his nose and ran through the information again and then his eyes lit up like a light bulb when he got the concept.

"Oh, I guess I never noticed it until now. So this attribute makes Shadow Clones ideal for reconnaissance missions, observing an enemy's camp, infiltration and information gathering?" Ryuu smiled indulgently at the blonde Jinchuuriki.

"Excellent, you caught on fast."

"So if two of my clones go through the exact same training, then I'll end up getting twice the benefit from it and to put it another way, if I have two clones doing the same training, I'll accomplish the same amount in half the time… and with three, in a third…"

"And with a thousand, in one thousandth." Ryuu smirked when she shared a sly glance with her student.

"So with a thousand clones, something that usually takes you twenty years would take a week to accomplish. So while we train, you're to have at least one thousand clones working alongside you at all times." Naruto nodded with barely hidden awe.

"So this is why the Jounins in Konoha are so strong? They've been training like this all their life?" Naruto looked like he had just discovered the secret of the century.

"Actually, I don't think anyone has ever trained like this."

"What? Why? I mean, they can make Shadow Clones too right?" Ryuu sighed, obviously the advantages of his level of chakra and stamina has not sunk in yet.

"Most people don't have your stamina or your level of chakra, so it is impossible to maintain that jutsu for that long. Since it splits the chakra evenly across the clones, ninjas with low chakra capacities cannot use it to its full potential and you have at least thrice as much as a Jounin."

"Really?"

"If Kyuubi wasn't suppressed by the seal, it could be _a thousand_ times more." Naruto was stunned and shocked to speechlessness while Ryuu continued her lecture.

"And that's why you're the only one who can handle this kind of training at such a large scale." Ryuu smirked at her student again and then Naruto returned with the same deviousness.

"What am I waiting for? Bring it on."

_: End Flashback : _

It had been interesting but Naruto tend to exhuast himself with the inevitable mental and physical strain that came with the unique training, after eight hours of training, the blonde was usually knocked out for the rest of the day. However, both mentor and student recognized the pros and cons of the training method and unanimously acknowledged that the pros far outweight the cons.

With her weekly inspection and estimations, Ryuu now reckons that every single of the Eight has reached a high Jounin or ANBU level and they were barely teenagers at fourteen or fifteen, only just out of their Intermediate stage of learning.

_When they get back, Konoha will have no idea what just hit them…_

§

In an apartment amongst the exclusive many opened only to the Jounins; Hatake Kakashi was staring out of his window, into the starless night sky as images of that _particular_ dream flashed before his eyes. Those sensual touches, those hot and addicting kisses...

To be honest, it was driving him nuts.

However, what really bothered the silver-haired Jounin was the word that crossed his lips after he woke up from that _particular_ dream because that word could be the death of him. Literally.

_"Mate."_

Kakashi sighed as he ran a hand through his platinum locks. Unknown to most, the Hatakes had an ancestor with a Wolf Demon lineage when the aforementioned demon married into the family with her humanoid form. She was written in the Hatake Record Book as the most beautiful Hatake wife; which could be true given her demonic roots. She had a son, Hatake Hikaru, who later in his life, gone on to become the most powerful Hatake in existence. Since then, the carriers of the Hatake name were blessed with an extraordinary sense of smell and hearing, however the descendants also gained a animalistic tradesmark: Monogamy.

No sex until you find your mate.

Therefore, in all technical and realistic sense, Hatake Kakashi was a virgin despite having a fair share of kisses. The Jounin sighed again, Hatakes were known; within the family, that mates are usually identified through their superior sense of smell. However, there were a few rare cases where the identity of his ancestors' mates were revealed through dreams and in those cases, it could go either ways. It could turn out good because the method of revealing signaled a powerful mate with an extremely strong bond, or it could turn out disastrous due to the potential strength of the bond, because if the pair goes unmated, both risk insanity and eventual death.

Golden locks and stunning cerulean eyes...

Kakashi wrecked his brain as he went through his mental catalogue of acquintances but once again, the search was futile. The only person who would fit this specific description was his deceased sensei. The Jounin groaned in frustration, this was really getting nowhere near possible, in fact; it looked damned near impossible. Deciding to turn in, Kakashi tried his best to get a night's worth of much-needed rest and just before he drifted off to sleep, an unbidden thought crossed his mind:

_Why did that blue gaze seem so damned familiar? _

§

HEYA! I finally updated! XD Sorry for the wait and once again; Hugs and Kisses to those who actually _bothered_ to REVIEW and shame on those who did not press that tempting little blue button down there. _: pouts : _I think a word of advice is in order: Sad Author Person whose plot bunny will end up dead so... HELP ME KEEP MY PLOT BUNNY ALIVE!!! I guess another chapter should be expected before I leave for the States because I wanted to make up for the lost time :). **So remember, tons of reviews a day, keeps those damnable author blues away. :D **Until next time, Ja!

Love,

Ryuu.


	5. V: The Return and another Surprise

**Eight Dragons and a Fox **

Naruto was banished after failing to retrieve Sasuke. After a mysterious woman makes a deal with Tsunade, the Kitsune becomes her one of her eight students and under her tutelage; Naruto learns the Forgotten Arts and merges with the Kyuubi. KakaNaru. Yaoi

**Disclaimer: Nothing belongs to me except Ryuu. Nuff Said. **

Chapter V: The Return and another Surprise 

A/N: There is a new threesome: Shino/Hinata/Kiba. Enjoy! And I am glad to be back!

§

_"Hey, Kyuubi." _Naruto knocked onto the bars of the steel cage that contained the Kyuubi no Kitsune and suddenly a pair of blood red orbs snapped open, creating an eerily dangerous impression.

**_"What do you want?"_** The baritone rang out with warning as the beautiful man walked out from the shadows to eye his container with slight suspicion.

_"I need your help." _

**_"And what do I get in return?" _**This time, Kyuubi's gaze turned shrewd but Naruto was unfazed, he was actually expecting this.

_"Two days each month to see Ryuu-Shishou, I will allow you control over my body however, you would be powerless to do any real damage while you are out." _As Naruto gave out his offer; he saw incredulity, awe and then hope.

**_"What help do you need?"_** Kyuubi's crimson eyes softened to a light golden as the Demon Lord regarded the whiskered teenager.

_"I need access to your chakra anytime so I want to merge chakras with you. Do you agree?" _

**_"I'll do it because I know that there isn't a chance for me to get out of this containment and I know that you'll use my chakra well… I suppose an apology is in order for what I have taken away from you." _**Naruto was surprised because the Youkai was known to be a proud individual and to hear him apologize was rather disconcerting.

_"I guess apology accepted is the correct phrase to answer with?" _Naruto thought that since the demon recognized his mistake, it would be right to forgive.

**_"You know what, instead of just giving you access to my chakra, I am going to give you access to my arsenal of jutsus too. I'll make you my successor."_** Now that was an unexpected outcome but Naruto was not complaining.

_"I've got nothing else to say except for thank you." _The blonde vessel felt an inkling of gratitude in the back of his mind, and Naruto felt himself smile.

**_"You earned it."_** The fox's pleasant baritone held a hint of pride that confused Naruto but nonetheless, the blonde vessel accepted the praise.

That was a year before the octet was due to return to Konoha…

§

Ryuu smirked as she traced the edge of her ornate viewing mirror with a long, elegant digit. In the reflection's view was the Council meeting with Tsunade.

"_Dearest_ Council members, it seems like Konoha is in trouble again. I have sources telling me that Orochimaru and Iwagakure are gearing up together for a battle against us." Tsunade could be seen eyeing the Councilmen with despise and dislike. Ryuu chuckled sinisterly at the uncomfortable looks on the elderly ex-shinobis as they took in what the Godaime had to say.

"Some humans are just too gullible for their own good…"

_: Flashback : _

"Tsunade-hime." The Godaime's eyes widened with recognition as she turned around and bowed respectfully.

"Ryuukotsusei-sama. What brings you here and how are the children?"

"They are fine and on the matter of what brings me here, I think it would be best for you to take a seat before I start."

"It's that important…" Ryuu nodded.

"There is only six more months before the eight returns to Konoha, but there is a problem with Naruto's return; mainly because he's banished." Tsunade nodded sadly.

"However," the Hokage perked up, "I may have something that could allow Naruto to return as legitimately as it can get."

"I just received information that Orochimaru has been enlisting the help of lesser demons to assist him in certain aspects in his quest for immortality and I have made sure that one of my dragons leaked information to one of the twerps to tell him about the barriers that I erected so he's attacking after the barrier comes down. And if you tell the Councilmen that Iwagakure have been allied with Otogakure, I am sure the Council would immediately ask for you to deal with the problem." Tsunade considered this for a while before nodding.

"With your power, backed by them, you could now override the banishment order and allow Naruto to come back, I will assure you that the Council members will say, 'do as you see fit as the Hokage'. And when they do, record it." Tsunade finally caught on what the Dragoness was saying when she nodded and smirked for all that she's worth.

"Finally… I hope the Councilmen will love this when the whole thing rebounds onto them, because I think I do." Ryuu chuckled as she saw the positively sinister glint in the Godaime's hazel eyes, whatever she had planned for the Council; the half-goddess was glad that she was not on the receiving end of it.

_: End Flashback : _

"Do as you see fit as the Hokage, the Council is not here to be babysitters." Tsunade nodded with an expressionless face but Ryuu know that on the inside, the Godaime was feeling rather darkly satisfied. As she too felt an inkling of righteous satisfaction when she saw the Council unknowingly signing their demise, Ryuu smiled because the time for her students to leave a mark has come.

_Now the entertainment begins…_

§

Tsunade rested her chin on her knuckles of her clasped hands as she stared out of the large window that allowed the Hokage to look into the village. Her thoughts soon settled on a certain golden haired, blue-eyed Kitsune.

_Why haven't the villagers seen what he had actually done to save the village for more than once? Why can't they accept that Naruto is the **vessel** and not the Demon? Why can't they see the unwavering loyalty Naruto has for Konoha? Why can't they see the utter willingness to die for the sake of the village and its people? Why can't the people see him as who he is inside, not just on face value? Why can't people give him a chance before jumping into conclusions or associating him with the devastation that came with the Kyuubi's attack? Why? Why? WHY?! **WH – **_

The Godaime was shaken out of her reverie by Shizune's offering of warm green tea as the clink of the porcelain cup brought her back into reality.

"Tsunade-sama, it's the New Year's, why don't you take a walk outside and join the festivities?" The buxom blonde shook her head with a soft smile but her hazel orbs betrayed her emotions. Shizune nodded and then left the room to allow the Hokage some well-deserved time to herself.

"Onee-sama, why don't you heed Shizune-nee's words?" Tsunade widened her eyes as the familiarity of the voice and the words. Whirling around immediately, the Godaime was faced with the recognizable yet different profile of her surrogate brother.

"Naruto!" and a few more others of the tensai generation that Konoha has not seen for the last three years and hell, were they different. Tsunade felt her eyes water at the return of her beloved brother and his friends. As she hugged him, the blonde woman realized that the previously short boy who only reached her generous chest now towered over her by at least a head.

"Ohayo, Hokage-sama." A soft, ethereal sounding feminine voice rang out as Tsunade saw a beautiful brunette girl bow respectfully and was she dreaming or did she just thought that the young woman resembled Hyuuga Hinata?

"Hinata-hime?" The regal young woman smiled prettily as she nodded, her hard mercurial lavender eyes betraying her true strength. Beside her was Hyuuga Neji, an illustration of masculine beauty with his metallic-grey orbs and classical features.

"Hokage-sama, I would like to request for a defection from the Sand. I would like to be a Leaf Nin." A pleasant, husky baritone did not match up with any of the missing children until she saw the blood red locks and brilliant emerald eyes. Sabaku Gaara, Tsunade gasped at the chillingly beautiful picture that the young man painted. Nodding, because she did not trust her own voice not to waver, Tsunade earn herself a regal inclination of his head as he expressed gratitude.

Nara Shikamaru and Aburame Shino stood with equal heights beside each other, making an impressive image with their towering strength. Both boys have matured into handsome individuals whose postures seemed to hint restrained power. What was more surprising was Rock Lee's change, from the overly enthusiastic boy with horrendous eyebrows to a cheerful, more controlled young man with a better fashion sense.

Each and everyone of the "lost" generation that she had been waiting for the last three years surprised her with their blatant improvement and maturing. Tsunade felt her heart regain its hopeful beat as she realized that it will be this octet that will change Konoha forever and for the better.

"Alright," regaining a serious edge to her strong voice, Tsunade had a smirk etched onto her lovely face. "I think it's time that Konoha gained a few more Jounins."

§

Hyuuga Hiashi stared at the picture of his wife holding his eldest daughter, her lavender orbs sparkling with happiness. But that was not the ending; Hinamori's body had been severely weakened after Hinata's difficult birth and a few weeks after Hanabi's birth; the soft-spoken but regal woman passed away. Unable to deal with his pain and guilt, the Hyuuga Clan Head blamed his wife's death on his eldest.

Years of hatred and despise have turned the once honorable man into a detestable shell of his former self. Hinamori was his anchor and with her gone, he snapped; becoming the cold-blooded, despicable schemer he is today.

When Hatsumomo came up with the plan to erase his supposed heir's existence, Hiashi did not even bat an eyelid when he agreed to the plan. He had nothing to lose and everything to gain: Allowing his more powerful younger daughter to be in power and disposing of his useless heir.

Putting the photo facedown, Hiashi narrowed his eyes and returned to his Clan duties that lay on his ornate mahogany table. A rustle of fabric suddenly made it clear to him that someone was in the room. Activating his Byakugan immediately; he spotted a slender woman's form at the corner of his study.

"Who are you and what do you want with me?" Hiashi coldly asked, aware that the other person in the room had above average skills to be able to enter his personal study without being detected until it was nearly too late.

"Otou-sama, I am _sincerely_ saddened that you've _forgotten_ all about me." Hiashi dropped his brush as the mysterious person walked into the light.

Hinata…

The young woman looked just like her mother; the same regality, beauty; but there was something extra in that familiar mix: confidence and strength. Mercurial lavender orbs stared at him; a mixture of his and Hinamori's Byakugan colours; with a glint of determination and despise.

"I shouldn't have trusted Hatsumomo and I should have dispatched my own warriors instead." A flicker of hurt flitted pass her eyes but was quickly concealed as the metallic lavender orbs hardened frostily.

"I'll answer your second question, _Otou-sama_; I'm here to take your place as Clan Head." Hiashi widened his eyes in shock and then narrowed them in anger, but when he regained his focus; his firstborn was gone; leaving a note on in her wake.

**_I'll be back for your position, and it's not a threat because it's a promise. _**

Gritting his teeth, Hiashi crumpled the paper as he clenched his fist; turning his knuckles white. Slamming his fist onto his table in a rare show of wrath the middle-aged man narrowed his eyes in furious determination as he now sets his mind into getting rid of his firstborn once and for all. But what unsettled him was the foreign confidence and that hint of power that she emanated effortlessly. And in his enraged state, Hiashi did not realize that if Hinata was alive, then so was his nephew; Hyuuga Neji, the prodigy of the Hyuuga Clan.

Little did he know that the diminutive detail that escaped him would come back and bite him sharply in his derriere. Too bad, because Hiashi was just too arrogant for his own good; and somewhere far, far away, a certain dark haired, silver eyed half-goddess was smirking for all that she was worth.

§

The octet passed the Jounin examinations without a hitch as their opponents underestimated them from the beginning due to their age. But none of them opted to wear the flak jacket that was rather apparent in most of the older generation of Jounins because the eight unanimously agreed that it brought too much attention to their shinobi status and in turn, onto themselves.

The first thing that Hinata and Shino did after their examination was to visit an old teammate of theirs: Inuzuka Kiba. After spending three years together, the Hyuuga princess and the Aburame discovered feelings for each other and unsurprisingly, for their third teammate as well.

The pair made their way to the impressive Inuzuka estates, where the white and red buildings stood out clearly announcing their ownership and the large canine companies were prowling amongst themselves in the enormous front yard.

"Excuse me, who are you looking for?" A buxom, impressive woman with red fangs down her high cheekboned face and dark tresses tilted her head inquiringly. The lady was Inuzuka Hana, sister to Kiba and the attractive woman was a famed veterinarian in Konoha.

"Sorry for disturbance, but we are here for Inuzuka Kiba." Hana nodded as she gestured for them to follow. The trio entered the house and only for them to exit into another yard, but this one was more gorgeous and larger in size. And right in the middle was their mutual object of desire, brushing a familiarly white wolf-like canine.

"Kiba, there are two people to see you." When the young man turned his face around, Hinata and Shino were struck by how much the wolfish boy had changed: Kiba was now a handsome lad with sharp almond doe-eyes, and a lithe, muscled body.

The pair saw confusion, then recognition and finally betrayal in those warm chocolate orbs. Standing up stiffly, the Inuzuka boy did not have any expression on his face less a little narrowing of his eyes.

"Hello, Hyuuga-hime, Aburame-kun." The formal address seared through both their hearts but only Hinata felt her legs collapse as she stood unsteadily. A long uncomfortable silence ensued until Hinata opened her mouth and asked a heartbreaking question.

"What… what happened to the Kiba-kun that… that… we… know?" The stuttering Hinata was back, she had not truly conquered her uncertain tendencies. Kiba's chocolate orbs flashed darkly as he answered.

"He was left alone and grew up along the way while trying to live with the betrayal." Without another glance back, the master and the dog returned to the estate. Shino just kept staring at the retreating back of his other love interest while trying to comfort the trembling the distraught beauty he was supporting. Kiba stopped and Shino felt hope rise again; only to be squashed ruthlessly by another frosty phrase.

"Please see yourselves out." After Kiba entered the estate, Hinata broke down.

"We've let Kiba down; we shouldn't have left him alone. It's entirely my fault…" Hinata whispered achingly as tears rolled down her pale cheeks. Shino enveloped his lover's fragile body with his strong arms as he offered comfort silently. Then the sobbing started once the pair got themselves outside the Inuzuka estates.

Kiba looked out from his window on the second floor of the estate and he witnessed the whole thing with a wistful and hurt look on his face. After his arctic reception and abrupt retreat, Kiba felt his heart cracking again. When the pair just left without a word, the Inuzuka felt his whole world crumble because the two most important people in his life were gone. It was later when he turned fourteen that he realized that it was love that he felt for both of his teammates.

Seeing them together obviously drove a knife through his heart because he wanted to be with them but the wounds of his heart were fresh and yet to have been healed. Therefore, he decided to let them have their own happiness because he did not want to ruin it for them, however betrayed he might have felt by them; he still loved both of them.

Akamaru whined and rubbed his head against his master's leg, in a bid to offer some comfort. Kiba smiled softly and patted the large white dog.

"Thank you, Akamaru." Turning his gaze back to the window, a lone tear made its way down his face as he watched the pair's retreating backs. Love hurts, concluded Kiba, as he felt his heart make one final crack.

§

Naruto concentrated, eyes a blazing cerulean as they focused channeling chakra into a ball into his right hand. Red and blue chakra swirled, a fascinating mixture as it slowly elongated to resemble a whip. The blonde vessel grinned wolfishly, causing his longer and sharper than normal canines to show.

**_"That was an improvement; soon you'll be able to mold chakra into any weapon." _**Naruto grinned at the possibilities but stopped short when he realized that he was biting off more than he could chew.

_"Nice, but I think I'll just master the whip because i already have the katanas to worry about." _

**_"Wise decision and one more thing, since our chakras have merged, it means that your chakra is now rather poisonous because of the Youkai qualities my chakra would provide your chakra with."_** Naruto nodded inwardly as he made his own conclusion.

_"That would mean that my whip would be quite lethal." _

**_"Fatal."_** Naruto widened his eyes, fatal? That would mean that…

**_"Yes, it would mean that if someone else touches your chakra, they would be poisoned… a slow, sure and painful death. That's the downside of having Youkai chakra; because humans cannot touch demonic chakra therefore you only have my healing abilities to rely on. That's the price to pay for being so powerful…" _**Naruto twisted his mouth at the implications but totally understood because it was a reasonable price to pay.

Narrowing his eyes, Naruto flicked his wrist and the whip hit the nearest tree with a resounding crack, and when the blonde saw the damage he had inflicted onto the tree, he widened his eyes as he saw the large tree fall backwards. His whip had burned cleanly through the thick trunk of the tree.

"Shit."

**_"That sums it up quite nicely indeed."_** Naruto could hear the amusement in the fox's baritone as the demon regarded the scene through his vessel's eyes. The chakra whip vanished as Naruto reabsorbed the makeshift weapon and the blonde wiped the thin sheen of sweat that collected on his forehead.

_"Sheesh, maintaining the chakra's form takes quite a lot out of you." _Naruto whined inwardly, causing the fox to grin evilly.

**_"It is to be expected until you grow use to it, just like stamina."_** The blonde sighed and nodded, and started to trek back within Konoha's walls before sundown.

_"Hey, tomorrow is full moon right?" _Naruto felt a nod at the back of his head and smiled, he knew how important to Kyuubi was it to meet and make up with his mate again. Over a decade and a half of separation was rather painful for the demon, it was unspoken but Naruto could feel the loneliness and regret emanating from the caged cell once in a while.

_"Make Shishou happy okay? She's been through enough; it's time for her to have something that cheers her up again." _

**_"You know, for an immature brat, you can actually give out rather appropriate and well thought out advice once in a while." _**Naruto chuckled and nodded.

_"That's what you get when you're a student of a demanding woman with scary powers." _Naruto smiled again when he heard the pleasant laughter of the demon resounding in his head, the blonde concluded that talking to the Fox was not actually that bad at all; in fact, it was a pleasure.

**_"It's a pleasure for me too."_**

Naruto smiled softly as he continued walking back to his village; thinking that maybe being Kyuubi's container was not as bad as other people made it out to be.

§

"Why is the demon brat back in Konoha again? We banished him and we expected him to stay banished!" The three elderly Council members glowered in fury as Tsunade regarded them with cool hazel orbs. Taking out a recorder, she pressed on the play button; the voice of the oldest and most powerful Council member's voice rang out to meet the ears of the small assembly.

_"Do as you see fit as the Hokage, the Council is not here to be babysitters."_

"Like you said, do as I see fit as the Hokage and I, as the Hokage of Konoha, see fit to reinstate Uzumaki Naruto's status as a Shinobi of the Leaf. Have any of you got to anything to say against my decision _made with the power given to me by the three of you as the Hokage_?"

A few tense moments passed before the Council members shared a few glances and the head Council man announced tersely. The blonde Hokage could barely contain her dark amusement as she recognized her victory. How wise was the saying: Victory never tasted so sweet… whoever thought of that phrase deserves a kiss.

"We've got nothing to say, it is within your rights as the Hokage to do what you see fit. We will take out leave." The Council members stood up and bowed as procedure instructed them to. Tsunade smiled mockingly as she said sweetly.

"It was nice talking to all of you." With heated glares, the Council members left the room orderly and Tsunade smirked as she laid a finger on the recorder.

"Jackpot."

§

"Wow, really?" Gaara was wondering through Konoha when he passed an artist's store and he heard a feminine voice drawl. Curious, the Shukaku vessel decided to check it out.

"Father told you that he's going teach me his most secret crafts and he's not going to teach you!" A high pitched voice that made Gaara's eye twitch rang out painfully. As he stepped into the shop, the blonde girl stopped and stared while the other merely scoffed and returned to her painting.

"Hello, welcome to Fujioka's Gallery. How may I help you?" Gaara felt bile rise up his throat as the blonde girl batted her eyelashes at him, in a bid to flirt and appear cute; which she failed horribly.

"Mika, he's obviously here not to look at you. Leave him alone to browse the art for himself." The blonde girl sniffed as she teared. Gaara took a look at the owner of the sarcastic voice and he decided that she was one of the most beautiful creatures he had ever seen.

Long tresses that rivaled the darkness of the night were secured elegantly in a braid with a few tendrils escaping to frame her delicately beautiful and pale features. But what strike him hard were her brillant golden eyes that reminded him of a sunrise. She was elegant as she walked with an unidentifiable grace that implied a hidden strength and physical training.

"Father's going to hear about this and he'll strip you of your status as an apprentice!" The dark haired girl chuckled mockingly as she raised an eyebrow.

"You think he would? Seventy-nine percent of the sales here are my works; do you think Father _Dearest_ would risk that?" With a dramatic cry, the blonde girl left the room and Gaara felt his lips quirk up to form a smile when the girl rolled her eyes at the other girl's antics.

"I am sorry; I will now leave you to your esteemed self to look through the artworks." The girl turned around and Gaara caught her arm before she turned fully. Gaara found himself asking for her name.

"Excuse me but what's your name?"

"Fujioka Ryoko at your service." The girl bowed and Gaara could not help himself but to smile softly again.

"I'm Sabaku no Gaara, pleased to meet you." Unexpectedly, the girl did not shy away from him; instead, she nodded and smiled. Gaara went up to her workspace and peeked in. Painted on a canvas was the most beautiful human woman he had ever seen, with her dark hair and unmistakable golden eyes but what he was drawn to was that benevolent smile that seemed to light up the whole painting with that particular softness that was often associated with maternal love.

"Is she your mother?" Ryoko nodded and smiled wistfully. Understanding the implications, Gaara soon turned his attention to the numerous scenic paintings that was on sale. Every piece was gorgeous but what caught his attention was a painting that was of a breathtaking autumnal scene.

A maple tree with varying shades of crimson and gold that created a brilliantly dazzling effect as the colours complimented each other perfectly. There were a few leaves falling and dusting the amazingly detailed forest green grass but what completed the painting was the magnificent sunset that was the background of the entire masterpiece, there were shades of crimson, gold, amethyst and the lake was of a soothing light sapphire that seemed to reflect the golden hues of the sunset and the fire of the maple leaves. Gaara felt his breath being taken away as he stared at the painting.

It seemed to inviting, so real and tangible that Gaara wanted to reach out and touch that stunning piece of artistic brilliance.

"It's beautiful." Gaara whispered and Ryoko nodded with wide eyes as she tinted a light pink. Then Gaara leaned in and whispered into the girl's ear.

"I'll take it." Suddenly Ryoko stepped back and nodded curtly. Gaara was puzzled by the abrupt change but did not voice his blatant confusion. The painting was carefully rolled up and secured in a box with silk lining that would protect the art piece.

"That would be three thousand and nine hundred ryos." Ryoko bowed as she received the payment but she did not initiate or participate in any eye contact. Gaara left, still perplexed by the sudden change in demeanor.

Emotions are such a complicated thing...

What Gaara did not know was that right after the payment, Ryoko immediately retreated into a dark room and locked herself in, as she tried to calm her wildly beating heart while her head was supported by the wall. All she could think of was that particular shade of dark auburn and that brilliant flash of emerald…

Gaara smiled softly as he walked back to the large apartment that he shared with his family. He will try again tomorrow… But what the Shukaku vessel did not know again was that the object of his desire held a dark secret that could make or break Konoha…

§

Ino and Shikamaru were lounging in the living room as they shared a book with Ino sitting between the handsome Nara's legs and resting against his chest. Ino flipped the pages of the thick tomes of prophecies which the pair had been reading for the last two weeks under their Shishou's orders and the mind reading kunoichi gasped when she went through the prophecy.

_Eight Dragons and a Fox make Nine,  
Nine whose powers beacuse of Evil will combine;  
Due to the uncertainty of their time,  
The Nine will find solace within their kind;  
And at the same time, find strength to steady their minds._

_An untouched canvas is the beginning of all things;  
But the one who has the power to taint will have the paint mixed.  
Unsure of the fix,  
The Ninth will worry about Autumn,  
Because he holds her heart. _

_Alone, the Ninth will face destruction,  
As a whole, the powers of the Ninth will be the start of creation.  
Eight Elements will combine and at the right time,  
Shall the bells chime… _

Ino ran a hand through her blonde locks as she asked shakily while looking into the worried, dark depths of her lover. Shikamaru's eyes had the same question as she would later voice in a second.

"Who's the Ninth?"

Shikamaru sighed as he mimicked his lover's previous action of running a hand through hair. Racking his brains and using all of his two hundred points of his certified IQ, the genius frowned but snapped around when he heard the door opened with a loud click.

It was Gaara with a bag that had a long, slender box which looked expensive. The redhead frowned when he felt the tension in the air, Ino widened her eyes minutely and leaned in to kiss the Nara in the cheek but in reality she whispered,

"We'll talk about this another time."

Shikamaru nodded, just barely noticeable as Ino climbed off the couch. Gaara's face regained its passiveness, as if nothing happened just now. The blonde kunoichi sent the redhead a smile before going into the kitchen for a refreshment and then the door burst open.

It was Neji, whose metallic orbs was hard forebodingly. Shikamaru narrowed his eyes at his other lover's body language which screamed uneasiness and distress.

"What's wrong?" Ino ran out of the kitchen, after hearing her lover's voice but stopped in his tracks when the silver eyed young man announced in a soft but sure voice.

"It's Orochimaru; he's brought a group of Demons to attack Konoha and Sakura's with him."

§

MUHAHAHAHA!!! A Cliffy! Review and I may show some mercy and update earlier! Sorry about the lack of KakaNaru action, the next chapter will contain some!

Thank you all reviewers, this chapter is dedicated to you all!!!! I'm glad to be back from the US trip and expect less frequent update after the next chapter because school's starting and it's gonna be intense. Soo…. Enjoy this chapter!

Love, Ryuu.


	6. AN

Dear everyone, hi, it's been a year since I updated anything, I've been preoccupied with my studies and real life. I've decided to start writing again, and I've got a new fic up: **Fūjin**

As for the rest of the fics, I'm going to revise them (I can't believe I wrote them with such bad grammar and syntax -.-ll) so I hope that you guys will like them and thank you for being so patient!

Until next time,

Kage Ryuu Tenshi

*Note: This will be deleted soon.


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